Latest Important Cases "The Economic and Legal Basis of Compul sory Industrial Insurance for Workmen, I.'1 By James Harrington Boyd. 10 Michigan Law Review 345 (Mar.). In this first instalment, it is shown that "not only that the common (and liability) law remedy in its present form does not furmsh compensa tion of any kind in to exceed 12 per cent of the
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cases of injuries to employees, and even in those cases in which compensation is paid, the com pensation paid does not on the average exceed one-fifth of what is regarded as adequate com pensation, but also that no modification of the common law remedy can be made whereby these results will be materially improved. Hence that the old common law remedy must be abandoned and a new remedy substituted therefor."
Latest Important Cases Contracts. Liability of Subscribers to Newspapers — Implied Acceptance. Kas. Defendant's father-in-law subscribed for a newspaper for a specified time, to be sent to defendant. After the time of the subscription had expired, plain tiff continued to send the newspaper to the defendant, who directed that it be stopped, but continued to receive it from the post-office. The plaintiff afterward sued for the subscription price. In Austin v. Burge, in the Kansas City Court of Appeals (137 S. W. 618, N. Y. Law Jour., Apr. 19), it was held that a contract to pay for the subscrip tion arose by necessary implication. The Court decided the case in accord ance with the rule that one who receives a paper from the publisher without re fusing or returning it becomes liable for the subscription price. Fogg v. Atheneum, 44 N. H. 115, 82 Am. Dec. 191; Ward v. Powell, 3 Har., Del. 379; Goodland v. LeClair, 78 Wis. 176, 47 N. W. 268; Weatherby v. Bonham, 5 C. & P. 228. We agree with the New York Law Journal that "it would seem that the principle of implied acceptance and obligation to pay is carried to extreme length in these decisions. Where a per son has given definite notice that he will no longer subscribe, we can see no reason why he should be compelled to
return one or more copies of the paper as an earnest of his declination." There are, however, possible cir cumstances under which acceptance might reasonably be considered to be implied, as where, for instance, the person receiving the publication has due notice of the liability he may incur and fails after such notice to order the publication discontinued. The pub lisher obviously can have no right to renew a subscription without the sub scriber's actual or implied consent, but there are circumstances under which such consent may be implied from the silence of the person who continues, without pro test, to accept the publication for an unreasonable length of time. Copyright. No Right of Action for Infringement Until Copies have been Deposited for Registration — Prema ture Injunction Obtained by Newspapers. N. Y. An injunction was obtained by the New York Times March 8 restraining the publisher of the New York Ameri can from copying the Times's copyrighted account of Amundsen's journey to the South Pole. On March 9 the defend ant published what the court styled a "colorable copy" of the copyrighted narrative printed by the complainant in its issue of the same date. The com plainant then applied for punishment of the defendant for contempt of court.
