Page:Harvard Law Review Volume 12.djvu/573

PA TENT RIGHTS AND COP Y RIGHTS. 553 PATENT RIGHTS AND COPY RIGHTS.^ AN author, musical composer, artist, or inventor has a natural right to the unlimited use and enjoyment of his literary, musical, or artistic creation, or of his invention. It is the duty of the State to recognize and protect this right, but the State does not confer the right Nor does this right depend upon whether the author, musical composer, artist, or inventor has property in his creation or in- vention. If he have such property, his right of use and enjoyment is, it seems, an incident of his right of property. But, though he have no right of property, yet he has the right ^ of use and enjoy- ment, because he can exercise such right without committing any wrong against any other person, and because no other person can prevent his exercising such right without committing a wrong against him. As the literary, musical, or artistic creation of an author, musical composer, or artist is embodied in a chattel and as an author, musical composer, or artist is always assumed to own the chattel which embodies his creation, it follows that an author, musical composer, or artist owns his literary, musical, or artistic creation, regarded as a chattel, as absolutely as he can own any chattel An invention, on the contrary, is incapable of being embodied, and therefore an inventor can have no ownership of his invention as a chattel. And yet an inventor has, for the reason just stated, as unlimited a right to the use and enjoyment of his invention as an author, musical composer, or artist has of his creation. What means has an author, musical composer, artist, or inventor of preventing the use and enjoyment of his creation or invention by others ? An author, musical composer, or artist has all the means which are given him by kis absolute ownership and control of the chattel which embodies his creation ; and he has no other means, unless upon some principle not yet indicated. The only means that an inventor has, on any principle yet indicated, of pre- venting the use and enjoyment of his invention by others is that ^ The following paragraphs were prepared as a part of a lecture; and they are printed here, through the kindness of the Editor, instead of being read to the Class. 2 Such right should, it seems, be classified as a personal right.