SIR—

The Council of the Board of Trade lately adopted a resolution asking that Canadian Legislation be passed, giving effect to the Copyright Bill proposed in 1895 by Mr. Hall Caine, "making it obligatory that a book shall be printed and bound in this country in order to secure Canadian copyright, and continue to be so printed and bound in order to retain such copyright, and that upon failure to print in Canada within a reasonable time, provision shall be made by which the Government may issue to a Canadian publisher a license to print in Canada, subject to such safeguards as will secure to the owner of such book a reasonable royalty upon his work." The resolution is to be forwarded to the Boards of Trade of other cities in Canada, together with the request that they join in representations to the Government asking their consideration of this important question, and urging the passing of this legislation.

I was absent from Toronto when the Booksellers' Section framed and passed its Report, and only returned to Toronto after it had been adopted at the meeting of the Council of the Board. Knowing that the Council was being misled, I communicated with the President and requested that I might be heard before the Council, offering to explain the copyright question, which I knew was little understood by the members, of whom only two or three are publishers. The President frankly admitted to me that he had not investigated the question, and told me he would bring my request before the next meeting of the Council. I was somewhat surprised to receive a letter from the President a few days afterwards declining to allow me to be heard, and still more surprised to read that in his annual address to the Board, delivered four days later, he energetically pressed upon the Board the necessity for the legislation referred to in the resolution of the Council.

Under the British Copyright Laws, which extend to Canada, a British or Canadian author of a literary work has the undisputed right to his manuscript; he may withhold, or he may communicate it, and in communicating it he may limit the number of persons to whom it is imparted, and impose such restrictions as he pleases upon the use and printing of the work. Foreign reprints of such a work cannot be imported into Canada. Canadian publishers are just as free to deal with authors under the British Copyright Laws as publishers in the United Kingdom, and are, therefore, on the same footing as the British publishers.

Every lover of books will remember that during the continuance of the arrangement, a Canadian Publishing Trade hardly existed, and that the reading public who bought books were compelled in a great measure to satisfy themselves with American reprints, of so little value that specimens of them are now regarded almost as curiosities.

Prior to 1887, a Canadian author was entitled to little protection under the Copyright Laws of European countries, and prior to 1891 was entitled to no protection whatever under the Copyright Laws of the United States. In 1886 the Imperial Parliament passed an Act which provides in effect, that the British Copyright Acts shall apply to a book first produced in Canada or any other British possession, in like manner as they apply to a work first produced in the United Kingdom. If the book is copyrighted at Ottawa, a certificate of registration signed by the Minister of Agriculture is proof in all Courts throughout the Empire of the existence of such copyright. No registration in England is required.

Prior to 1891, books written in any part of the Empire were public property in the United States, and, although there were many honorable exceptions amongst American publishers of reputation, such books were as a rule appropriated on the scramble system, chiefly to supply material for the weekly issues of the cheap "Libraries," such as "The Seaside" and "The Franklin Square." The "fifteen cent quarto" of the Libraries was not a book; it was usually sold for railway reading, and thrown away at the end of the journey. Canada was deluged with these productions.

In 1891, the Chace Bill was passed by Congress. One provision of this Bill enacts, that any citizen or subject of a foreign country, which has been declared by the President's proclamation to permit citizens of the United States the benefit of copyright on substantially the same basis as its own citizens, can obtain copyright in the United States. The author obtaining such copyright is protected from piracy in the United States, or from importation of foreign reproductions into the United States. It is popularly understood in Canada that, before the passage of the Chace Bill, the Imperial authorities gave some concession, or made some change in the British Copyright Law, or entered into some International Agreement providing for reciprocity in the granting of copyright, in order to secure an arrangement with the United States. Such is not the case.

Only a few days ago, I read a report of an address upon copyright delivered to the Canadian Club by Mr. Thomas, a leading member of the firm of The Copp, Clark Company, from the published report of which I quote:—

On the first of July, 1891, and without further communication between the two Governments, the President issued his proclamation proclaiming, that as satisfactory official assurance had been given that in Great Britain and the British possessions the law permitted to citizens of the United States the benefit of copyright on substantially the same basis as to the citizens of that country, the above condition in the Chace Bill was fulfilled in respect of British subjects. Thereupon the authors of the United Kingdom and Canada, and of every other British possession became entitled to the benefits of copyright in the United States on a perfect equality with American authors.

The Chace Bill was the result of a struggle extending over fifty-three years to secure the recognition in the United States of International Copyright,—a struggle of authors supported by the most eminent American publishers and journalists, having in view the relief of the publishing and all kindred trades from the blight of piracy, and the removal of the stigma which had rested on the American literary and publishing world. Prominent in the agitation which terminated in the Chace Bill was the American Copyright League, which included among its members the authors of the United States, and was presided over by such men as James Russell Lowell, Stedman, and Eggleston. The League in a noble letter published in 1887 appealed to all good citizens for justice to foreign authors, upon the ground that they were entitled to receive from those who read and benefitted by their books, the same fair payment one would expect to make on any other article, such as clothes or pictures bought from foreign producers. The League appealed for the widening of the circulation of the best new literature, home and international, on the ground of the lessening of the price which would ensue, in the case of original American books, from distributing the first cost among the greater number of copies for which sale would be secured among American readers, if the market were not flooded by pirated reprints of poor English novels; and in the case of books of international importance, whether from American, English, or Continental writers, from giving a basis of law to business arrangements for sharing the expense of production among the several nations interested.

The Canadian author, therefore, has obtained security in the vast market of the United States, because of the proclamation of the President, based on Lord Salisbury's satisfactory official assurance, that in Great Britain and the British possessions, the law permitted to citizens of the United States the benefit of copyright on substantially the same basis as to British subjects. If Canadian authors, Mr. Seton-Thompson, Ralph Connor, or Dr. Drummond, for example, comply with the provisions of the Chace Bill, and print and publish in the United States contemporaneously with the Canadian publication, they secure British and American copyright, with all the protection of the local copyright laws of the two countries.

Now let us see how an American author, who does not copyright in England but seeks to publish simultaneously in Canada and the United States, would be treated in this country, were he to seek to copyright his book in compliance with the provisions of our Canadian Act, an essential requirement of which is printing in this country.

The Canadian authorities have steadily declined to permit the registration of copyright under the Canadian Copyright Act to citizens of the United States, the ground of objection being, that the enactment of the Congress of the United States and the President's proclamation of July 1st, 1891, extending the benefits of the Chace Bill to all British subjects, did not constitute "an International Copyright Treaty" within the meaning of the Canadian Copyright Act, which provides, as pointed out above, that any person domiciled in Canada or any part of the British possessions, or being a citizen of any country having an International Copyright Treaty with the United Kingdom, who is an author of any book, etc., shall have the sole right of printing, publishing, etc., for a number of years on certain conditions. This is a narrow construction of the Canadian Act, and savours somewhat of smartness and sharp practice. I believe it is not a fair construction and is certainly not in accord with the spirit and manifest intention of the Act. I am not alone in entertaining this opinion which still remains to be tested.

In February, 1897, the United States Government proposed the negotiation of a Copyright Convention which would expressly meet this allegation of the Canadian Government. This proposal the Canadian Government declined to entertain.

The Canadian rights in any American book which is likely to have a considerable sale in Canada are quickly purchased by some Canadian publisher, and the book is published simultaneously with the publication in England and the United States. Mr. Winston Churchill's "Crisis," and Miss Mary Johnston's "Audrey," are examples of such books. If the English publication, with consequent delays, could be dispensed with and all the advantages of the British Copyright Acts could be acquired by printing and contemporaneous publishing in Canada, as they could be acquired were the bar against registration at Ottawa removed, a strong inducement would be offered to copyright American books in Canada.

The principal difficulty which British authors and Canadian publishers had to contend with prior to 1891, was due to the proximity of the United States. So long as the Canadian law remained in force which provided for the collection of the 12-1/2% duty for the benefit of British authors, the importation of cheap pirated editions of British works could not be prevented, unless the work was reproduced in Canada, and such reproduction was impossible chiefly owing to the limited market and unsettled copyright conditions in this country.

In 1899, the third International Congress of Publishers was held in London, at which there was a representative gathering of British and foreign publishers. The question of Canadian copyright occupied one of the sittings of the Congress. Professor Mavor, representing the Canadian Authors' Society was present, and delivered an interesting address, from the official report of which I quote:—

Mr. H.L. Thompson, a member of the publishing house of The Copp, Clark Company, was also present. Mr. Thompson said that "the copyright question in Canada was understood very slightly by the people at large, and if they mentioned copyright they thought it had something to do with monopoly. Speaking of his own house, he could say they cordially supported the suggestion made by Professor Mavor." It is difficult to understand why Mr. H.L. Thompson and his partner, Mr. Thomas, are now, only two years afterwards, to be found advocating exactly the contrary views.

The following resolution was adopted by the Congress:—

The fourth Congress of the Chambers of Commerce of the Empire met in London, when Lord Monkswell's bill was before Parliament, and unanimously adopted a resolution, which I proposed and which was seconded by the Honourable Thomas Fergus, of New Zealand, declaring its approval of the bill and expressing the earnest hope that it might speedily become law.

Lord Monkswell's bill did not succeed in getting through the required stages to make it law, but the British Government has now taken the matter up, and the King's speech at the opening of the present Parliament announces a copyright bill as a Government measure.

The Fisher Bill, which was passed at the instance of the Canadian Society of Authors with the sanction of the Canadian Manufacturers' Association and the Executive of the Employing Printers' Association, expressed in formal resolutions laid before the Government, and with the tacit approval of the Canadian publishers, placed the Canadian publishing trade upon a firm basis. It was the final step in securing the establishment of the Publishing Trade in Canada.

In June, 1900, Professor Mavor and I were called before the Select Committee of the House of Lords and questioned as to whether in our opinion the Fisher Bill was intended to be local in its operation and not to conflict with the Imperial Copyright Laws. We gave the opinion that the Bill was intended to be confined in its operation to Canada. This opinion was accepted as a satisfactory explanation and the Bill received no opposition in England and came into effect without disallowance. By allowing this Bill to become law, the Imperial authorities gave that further recognition to the Canadian publishers which successfully established their trade, and put an end to the deadlock which had existed between Great Britain and Canada for twenty years. Mr. W.J. Gage, the Chairman of the Wholesale Booksellers' Section of the Board of Trade, himself testified to the present prosperity of the Trade at a Banquet on the 19th of last December, at which he entertained the Section, and congratulated his hearers "upon the last year having been with them a year of prosperity, and a year of prosperity with the Paper Trade as well."

What then is the reason for the present agitation? Does any one pretend to assert that the present conditions under the Fisher Bill are not working well?

To summarize the position:—In 1847, the Imperial authorities yielded to Canadian demands and permitted the introduction of the cheap American reprints of British copyright books. This arrangement our own Parliament terminated.

In 1886, the Imperial Parliament set at rest a question which had existed in reference to the copyright in books first published in Canada, by providing that the British Copyright Acts should apply to such works in the same manner as they apply to works first produced in the United Kingdom. They now occupy exactly the same footing.

In 1900, the Imperial authorities again yielded to Canadian demands, and permitted the Fisher Act to come into force, which prohibits the importation of copies of a work printed in the United Kingdom, when the Canadian publisher produces in Canada an edition of the work under license from the copyright owner.

The Canadian publishers are now secured in the possession of their own market when once they have acquired a license from a British copyright owner, and have reproduced the work in Canada. Canadian printed editions of Rudyard Kipling, George Eliot, Francis Parkman, and of scores of others may now exclusively be dealt in by the Canadian book-selling trade. Prominent American publishers have told me repeatedly that our Canadian Copyright Law as it stands, is superior to anything they have had in the United States for the benefit and encouragement of publishing.

It was once the custom for the English author, when dealing with the American publisher, to throw in Canada as an inducement to complete the deal. Mr. Thomas in his address to which I have referred stated that this is still the custom. Mr. Thomas knows better than this, for, whilst this was undoubtedly the custom some years ago when Canada and her trade were little known or regarded in England, it is not the custom now. Rudyard Kipling, Hall Caine, Benjamin Kidd, Crockett, Doyle, Hope, Parker, Miss Fowler, Miss Cholmondeley, Miss Montresor, Marie Corelli, all now deal with Canada as a separate market, and contract directly with Canadian publishers. This custom is growing rapidly and more books are now directly offered to Canadian publishers than can be safely taken, having regard to the present state of the market.

And what end will be gained by all this? Nothing but the right for Canadian publishers to print in Canada the majority of British or foreign books in any cheap form they please, and to compile such works as School Readers made up of extracts culled from copyright works, subject only to such safeguards as will secure to the owners of the copyrights infringed upon a reasonable royalty, in the imposition of which they can have no effective voice.

Were the proposals of the Board of Trade carried into effect, it would reduce our country below the standard of national morality and of international fair play maintained by all other civilized nations now united in the Copyright Union. Canadian authors would then encounter the same difficulty in securing recognition at the hands of Canadian publishers that American authors experienced with their publishers prior to 1891, when British books could be published in the United States without payment of royalty.

I maintain that the subject of copyright is abstruse, and is not to be mastered in a few days or in a few months. Long as this letter is, I have stated only a single phase of the question. I could better have dealt with the matter in a short address, and I very much regret that the Executive of the Council did not afford me the opportunity of appearing before them when I asked it. Had this been done, I feel satisfied that the Board would not have been committed to the proposals the Council are now engaged in advancing, nor would the Board have been subjected in England, as it already has been, to the criticisms of those who understand the copyright question, and with some indignation resent the course of the Board in advancing reasons for its action which are not in accordance with the real facts.

I am, Sir,
Yours truly,
GEORGE N. MORANG