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COPYRIGHT 145 COPYBIGHT used method of reproducing engineers' drawings, architects' plans, etc. COPYBIGHT, the exclusive right of property in any intellectual production; the protection afforded by the law for a limited number of years to the origina- tor of any vritten or printed composi- tion or work of art, or to his heirs and assigns, whereby persons unauthorized are prevented from multiplying and sell- ing copies, or, in case of dramatic works, from representing them on the stage. Such rights were claimed by authors be- fore the introduction of printing. After the invention of the printing press, the right to publish books became the sub- ject of licenses and patents. The com- mon law affords a certain measure of protection to works unpublished or pub- lished only for a limited purpose. The tvriter of a letter, for example, trans- fers his property in it to the receiver; but the receiver has no right to print it for sale or distribution without the writer's consent. The copyright in pub- lished works is the creation of statute; the first Copyright Act was passed in 1709; and by virtue of its provisions au- thors acquired the sole liberty of print- ing their books during a term of 14 years from first publication, and, if the author should be living at the end of that time, during a further term of 14 years. At the Union with Ireland, the Copy- right Act was extended to that country, and the trade in cheap editions, printed in Dublin and secretly imported into Great Britain, came to p,n end. In 1814 the term of copyright was extended to 28 years, and the residue of the author's life, if he were living at the end of the term. The basis of the existing law is the Copyright Act of 1842. In Great Britain the term of copyright in a book is 42 years, or the life of the author and seven years, whichever of the two terms is the longer. No copjnright can be en- joyed in seditious or immoral publica- tions, or in books first publishea out of the United Kingdom. Articles contrib- uted to encyclopaedias and periodicals and books published in parts or series belong to the proprietor; out he may not publish them separately without the writer's consent, and after 28 years the copyright reverts to the author. Dramas and musical pieces^ if first published in book-form, are subject to the same rules as books; but if they are performed in public before appearing in print, the au- thor retains the sole right of permitting them to be represented during the term of copyright; and this right is distinct from the copyright he acquires if his drama or piece is published as a book. By an Act of 1882 the proprietor of a piece of music, desiring to reserve tlie right of performance, must give notica to that effect on the cover. Verses may not be taken from a copyright work and set to music for sale, without permission. A novel may be dramatized without the author's permission; but if copies of the drama are published containing passages borrowed in substance from the novel, the author of the adaptation is liable to an action. The right to dramatize can only be exercised with precautions which must greatly restrict it in practice. Copyright in engravings, maps, etc., is secured by several Acts ; the term is 28 years. Each plate and print must bear the name of the proprietor. Copyright in paintings, drawings, and photographs is secured to the artist during his life and seven years after by an Act of 1862. In 1874 the Canadian Copyright Act en- abled a British author to obtain copy- right in Canada for 28 years, provided his work be published in the colony. This right is concurrent with and in ad- dition to the rights given by the impe- rial Act of 1842. By the laws in force in 1904 the author has in Great Britain exclusive right to his publication for 42 years or for his life plus seven years, whichever may be the longer, but to ob- tain this right he must copyright the book, give one copy to the British Mu- seum within a month, and certain other copies on demand. Section 4,952 of the "Revised Statutes" of the United States, in force Dec. 1, 1873, as amended by the Act of June 18, 1874, as amended by the Act of March 3, 1891, provides that the author, in- ventor, designer, or proprietor of any book, map, chart, dramatic or musical composition, engraving, cut, print, or photograph, or negative thereof, or of a painting, drawing, chromo, statuary, and of models or designs intended to be per- fected as works of the fine arts, and the executors, administrators or assigns of any such person, shall upon complying with the provisions of this chapter have the sole liberty of printing, reprinting, publishing, completing, copying, execut- ing, finishing, and vending the same; and in the ease of a dramatic composi- tion, of publicly performing or repre- senting it, or causing it to be performed or represented by others. And authors or their assigns shall have exclusive right to dramatize or translate any of their works for which copyright shall have been obtained under the laws of the United States. A printed copy of the title of the book, map, chart, dramatic, or musical compo- sition, engraving, cut, print, photograph