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COPYRIGHT
The pub- lisher as merchant
"Outright" transfer
after delivery, but damages can be claimed only in case a time of publication has been named by the publisher. The author of a newspaper article has no claim to free copies or special terms. In the case of a work planned by the publisher, or a collaborative, supplementary or collective work commissioned by the publisher, the publisher is not bound to reproduce and distribute the work. The law is made applicable in case the contract with the publisher is made by another than the author. Appeal is authorized to the Supreme Court of the Empire.
It is impracticable to cite all the details of this ex- traordinarily detailed law, but the provisions sum- marized afford a remarkable conspectus of German practice on business questions possibly arising be- tween author and publisher, useful in relation to American and English practice.
The publisher is the merchant for the author, and the remuneration which he can pay to the author is limited by the price and sale which he can obtain from the book-buying public. The relation between author and publisher should be, as previously em- phasized, most fully, clearly and specifically set forth in the initial contract. "Agreements between author and publishers," said Vice Chancellor Page Wood in 1857 in Readew. Bentley, "assume a variety of forms. Some are so clear and explicit that no doubt can arise upon them. Thus, where an author assigns his copy- right, the transaction is one which every person un- derstands, and which leaves no room for uncertainty as to the rights of the parties." The work may in- deed be transferred "outright" without written con- tract, by the delivery of the manuscript and payment of a bargained sum, in which case the publisher be- comes the proprietor and may take out the copyright in his own name or that of the author, can assign the
