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COPYRIGHT through Parliament, came into force. The absence of any as to whom the copyright shall belong to is so great, owing antecedent protection for the painter is clearly stated in to the dread lest the mere mention of the signing of a its preamble, which reads as follows: “ Whereas by law document should cause the selling of the picture to fall as now established, the authors of paintings, drawings, through, that in numerous such cases the copyright and photographs have no copyright in such their works, lapses and becomes public property. Photographers are and it is expectant that the law should in that respect be not affected by this clause, because they do not as a rule amended. Be it, therefore, enacted,” &c. This preamble sell the negatives they produce, and with them the copymakes it clear that there is no copyright in any paintings, right lies in the negative. They carry on their trade in drawings, or photographs executed and dealt with before prints without the question of the negative arising. The the year 1862 ; to be exact, 29th July of that year. The picture-dealer, also, who buys a picture and copyright is duration of the term of copyright in this Act of 1862 not subjected to the same disability as the painter. The differs from its predecessors, by being made dependent on picture-dealer can sell a picture without saying a word to the life of the author, to which life seven years were added. his client as to the copyright, which he, nevertheless, In the Literary Copyright Act there are two terms—the retains intact; the provision is applicable only to the first life of the author and seven years, or forty-two years, sale of the work, which, therefore, throws the whole of the whichever may prove the longer. In taking a fixed term disability upon the painter. like forty-two years it is necessary to have something to The Act gives the copyright of every work executed on start from, and with a literary work it was easy to start commission to the person by whom it is commissioned. from the date of publication. But pictures are not pub- It makes it compulsory upon every owner of a copyright lished. They may pass from the studio to the wall of the that he should register it at Stationers’ Hall before he can purchaser without being made public in any way. The take any action at law to protect it. The copyright does difficulty was evidently before the author of this Act, and the not lapse if unregistered, but so long as it remains unartist s term was made his life and seven years after his registered no action at law can be taken on account of any death without any alternative. This term applies equally to infringement. A copyright can be registered at any time, photographers. Perhaps no Bill which ever passed through even after an infringement, but the owner of the copyright Parliament ostensibly for the purpose of benefiting a certain cannot recover for any infringement before registration. set of people has faded so completely as has this Bill to The Act provides for both penalties and damages in accomplish its end. It started by proposing to give copy- the following cases :— right to authors of paintings, drawings, and photographs, 1. For infringing copyright in the ordinary way by and it would seem that no difficulty ought to have arisen issuing unlawful copies. as to whom such copyright should rightly belong; but 2. For fraudulently signing or affixing a fraudulent the following clause of the Act has introduced confusion signature to a work of art. into the question of ownership :— 3. For fraudulently dealing with a work so signed. Provided that when any painting, or drawing, or the negative 4. For fraudulently putting forth a copy of a work of ■of any photograph, shall for the first time after the passing of art, whether there be copyright in it or not, as the original this Act be sold, or disposed of, or shall be made, or executed for, work of the artist. or on behalf of any other person for a good or valuable considera5. For altering, adding to, or taking away from a work tion, the person so selling or disposing of, or making or executing the same, shall not retain the copyright thereof unless it be during the lifetime of the author if it is signed, and putexpressly reserved to him by agreement in writing, signed at ting it forth as the unaltered work of the author. or before the time of such sale or disposition, by the vendee 6. For importing pirated works. or assignee of such painting or drawing, or such negative of a photograph, or by the person on whose behalf the same shall be The incongruities of this Act were so apparent that its proso made or executed ; but the copyright shall belong to the moters desired to stop it, feeling that it would be better to have vendee or assignee of such painting, or drawing, or such negative no Bill at all than one which conferred so little upon the people of a photograph, or to the person for or on whose behalf the same it was intended to benefit; but Lord Westbury, the Lord Chanshall have been made or executed ; nor shall the vendee or assignee cellor, who had charge of the Bill in the House of Lords, advised thereof be entitled to such copyright unless at or before the time them to let it go through with all its imperfections, that they of such sale or disposition an agreement in writing, signed by the might get the right of the painter to protection recognized. This person so selling or disposing of the same, or by his agent duly advice was followed, and the Bill had no sooner become law than authorized, shall have been made to that effect. a fresh effort was started to have it amended. Year by year the agitation went on, with the exception only of a period when Irish That is to say, after promising the author copyright in affairs took up all the attention of Parliament, and domestic his work for life and seven years, the Act stipulates that legislation was rendered impossible. But within the last few years in order to get it the author must, at the time of the first copyright has been again “in the air,” and several independent have been at work upon the subject; and in 1898 the sale or disposition of his picture, obtain a document in committees Copyright Association of Great Britain promoted a Bill, which writing from the purchaser of the picture, reserving the was introduced into the House of Lords by Lord Herschell. It copyright to the author, and the Act goes on to say that was a measure designed to deal with all forms of copyright— if he does not take this step the copyright becomes the literary, musical, dramatic, and artistic,—and was remitted by the House of Lords for consideration to a committee, which, having property of the purchaser of the picture, but with the sat for three sessions, decided not to proceed with Lord Herschell’s proviso, in order to secure it to him, he must have a measure, but to treat literature and art in separate Bills. It had document signed by the artist assigning the copyright under its consideration an artistic Bill, drafted for and presented to him; but if neither of these things is done, and no by the Royal Academy, and a literary Bill and an artistic Bill by the Committee itself. The main proposals in the document is signed, the copyright does not belong to drafted latter were to give copyright to the author of any artistic work either the artist who sells or the client who buys, and the or photograph for a period of life and thirty years, unless the Act is silent as to whom it does belong to. It has dis- work be commissioned, in which case the copyright was to be appeared and belongs to no one. There is no copyright the property of the employer, except in the case of sculpture into be placed in a street or public place. The Bill provides existing in the work for any one. It has passed into the tended summary remedies for dealing with pirated works. It omits public domain, and any one who can get access to the altogether any reference to registration, and it provides for interwork may reproduce it. Now, as most purchases are made national copyright. from the walls of exhibitions, in ninety-nine cases out of To sum up the position of artistic copyright, we have a hundred the copyright is absolutely lost. And where the five British Acts, three dealing with engraving, one with sale is arranged directly between the artist and his client, the sculpture, and one with painting, drawing, and photodifficulty experienced by the artist in raising the question graphy, and between them there is very little relation.
