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the clerk of the district court; 2. Notice to the public, by printing, in the place designated, the fact of the entry, in the form prescribed by the statute ;

wholly unimportant, congress acted unwisely in requiring them to be done. But whether they are important or not, is not for the court to determine, but the legislature; and in what light they were considered by the legislature, we can learn only by their official acts.

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Judging then of these acts by this rule, we are not at liberty to say they are unimportant, and may be dispensed with. They are acts which the law requires to be done, and may this court dispense with their performance?

"But the inquiry is made, shall the non-performance of these subsequent conditions operate as a forfeiture of the right?

The answer is, that this is not a technical grant of precedent and subsequent conditions. All the conditions are important; the law requires them to be performed, and consequently their performance is essential to a perfect title. On the performance of a part of them the right vests; and this was essential to its protection under the statute: but other acts are to be done, unless congress have legislated in vain, to render the right perfect.

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The notice could not be published until after the entry with the clerk, nor could the book be deposited with the secretary of state until it was published. But these are acts not less important than those which are required to be done previously. They form a part of the title, and until they are performed the title is not perfect. The deposit of the book in the department of state, may be important to identify it at any future period, should the copyright be contested, or an un

founded claim of authorship asserted. But, if doubts could be entertained whether the notice and deposit of the book in the state department, were essential to the title, under the act of 1790; on which act my opinion is principally founded, though I consider it in connection with the other act; there is, in the opinion of three of the judges, no ground for doubt under the act of 1802. The latter act declares that every author, &c. before he shall be entitled to the benefit of the former act, shall, in addition to the requisitions enjoined in the third and fourth sections of said act, if a book, publish,' &c. Is not this a clear exposition of the first act? Can an author claim the benefit of the act of 1790, without performing the requisites enjoined in the third and fourth sections of it? If there be any meaning in language, the act of 1802, the three judges think, requires these requisites to be performed in addition to the one required by that act, before an author, &c. shall be entitled to the benefit of the first act.'

"The rule by which conditions precedent and subsequent are construed, in a grant, can have no ap. plication to the case under consideration, as every requisite, in both acts, is essential to the title.

"A renewal of the term of fourteen years can only be obtained by having the title-page recorded with the clerk, and the record published on the page next to that of the title, and public notice given within six months before the expiration of the first term."

See also Ewer v. Cox, 4 Wash. C. C. R. 486.

1

3. The deposit with the clerk of a copy of the publication, within three months from the date of publication. These acts are also made essential to a perfect title, by the statute itself, which declares that no person shall be entitled to its benefits, unless he shall have complied with these directions.2

In all cases of renewal of copyright, under the act of the 3d February, 1831, the entry, deposit at the clerk's office, &c., must be made a second time, within six months before the expiration of the first term, and notice thereof must be given, by publishing a copy of the record within two months from the date of the renewal, in one or more newspapers published in the United States, for the space of four weeks.3

The provisions of law respecting transfers and assignments of copyrights, will be found stated in a subsequent chapter.

It is not essential to the validity of a copyright,

1 Act of Congress, 3d Feb. 1831, § 4. I do not include, as one of the conditions for a perfect title, the recent enactment, which requires a copy of every work, of which the copyright shall be secured, to be sent to the library of the Smithsonian Institute; but I should not advise the neglect of this requisition, although it is not enforced by any penalty whatsoever. The statute, containing this provision, is in these words:

the existing acts of congress, or those which shall hereafter be enacted respecting copyrights, shall, within three months from the publication of said book, map, chart, musical composition, print, cut, or engraving, deliver, or cause to be delivered, one copy of the same to the librarian of the Smithsonian Institution, and one copy to the librarian of Congress Library, for the use of the said libraries. Act of Congress, 10th Aug. 1846, ch. 178, § 10.

2 Ibid.

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3 Act of Congress, 3d Feb. 1831,

"And be it further enacted, That the author or proprietor of any book, map, chart, musical composition, print, cut, or engraving, for which a § 3. copyright shall be secured under

that the author's name should appear upon the titlepage.1

2. Registration, under the English law, seems not to be essential to a good title, but merely affects the remedy. By the 5 and 6 Vict. c. 45, § 11, it is enacted, that a book of registry be kept at stationers' hall, wherein may be registered the proprietorship in the copyright of books, and assignments thereof, and in dramatic and musical pieces, whether in manuscript or otherwise, and licenses affecting such copyright; and certified copies of any entry are made prima facie proof of the proprietorship or assignment of copyright or license, as therein expressed. The 13th section makes it lawful for the proprietor of a copyright in "book" published before or after the act, to make entry in the registry book of the stationers' company, of the title of such book, the time of the first publication thereof, the name and place of abode of the publisher, and the name and place of abode of the proprietor of the copyright, or of any portion thereof, according to a form annexed to the act, and it is also made lawful for every such registered proprietor to assign his interest, or any portion of his interest, by making en

1 Beckford v. Hook, 7 T. R. 620. 2 Act 5 and 6 Vict. c. 45, § 11. 3 The word "book," in this act, includes every volume, part, or divi

any

3

sion of a volume, pamphlet, sheet of letter-press, sheet of music, map, chart, or plan separately published,

sec. 2.

try in the book of registry of such assignment, and of the name and place of abode of the assignee, in a form annexed to the act; and such assignment, so entered, is declared to be, without stamp or duty, of the same force and effect as if made by deed.1

The 19th section provides, that the proprietor of the copyright in any encyclopedia, review, magazine, periodical work, or other work published in a series of books or parts, shall be entitled to all the benefits of registration under the act, on entering in the book of registry the title of the work, the time of the first publication of the first volume, number or part, or of the first number or volume first published after the passing of the act, in any such work which shall have been published before the act, and the name and place of abode of the proprietor, and of the publisher, when the publisher is not the proprietor.

The 24th section enacts, that no proprietor of copyright in any book which shall be first published after the passing of the act, shall maintain any action or suit, at law or in equity, or any summary proceeding, in respect of any infringement of such copyright, unless he shall, before commencing such action, suit, or proceeding, have caused an entry to be made in the book of registry of the stationers' company, of such book, pursuant to the act;3 provided always,

1 Act 5 and 6 Vict. c. 45, § 13. Ibid.

19.

3 Formerly, an action for damages could be maintained, although the work had not been entered at sta

tioners' hall; but the penalties given by the 8 Anne, c. 19, could not be recovered. Beckford v. Hood, 7

T. R. 620.

that the omission to make such entry shall not affect the copyright in any book, but only the right to sue or proceed in respect of the infringement thereof; provided also, that nothing in the act shall prejudice the remedies which the proprietor of the sole liberty of representing any dramatic piece shall have by virtue of the act 3 Wm. IV. or of this act, although no entry shall be made in the book of registry.1

By the 20th section of this act, dramatic and musical compositions are to be registered, by entering the title of the production, the name and abode of the author or composer, the name and abode of the proprietor, and the time and place of the first representation or performance. But the omission to register is not to affect the remedies which the proprietor of the sole liberty of representation has by virtue of this act, or of the 3 Wm. IV. c. 15.3

2

UNIVERSITY AND COLLEGIATE COPYRIGHT.

The acts 15 George III. c. 53, § 1, and 41 George III. c. 107, § 3, secure to the two universities of Oxford and Cambridge and the colleges within them, the four universities in Scotland, Trinity College, Dublin, and the Colleges of Eton, Westminster, and

Act 5 and 6 Vict. c. 45, § 24. The 12th section of this act makes it an indictable misdemeanor, punishable accordingly, for any person wilfully to make, or cause to be made, any false entry, or wilfully to produce, or cause to be tendered in evidence, any paper falsely purporting

to be a copy of any entry in the registry book.

2

Act 5 and 6 Vict. c. 45, § 20. Ibid. § 24. The term "dramatic piece," in this act, includes every tragedy, comedy, play, opera, farce, or other scenic, musical, or dramatic entertainment. Sect. 2.

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