Affidavits. ...... ......The Lord Chancellor. To amend the Law of Wills.
Iiunicipal Corporations.

Mr. Serjeant Talfourd. | Prisons Regulations ...... .Mr. Fox Maule. To extend the suffrage of Householders. For facilitating the Recovery of the Posses

Shire-halls.

PASSED.

The Lord Chief Baron.

Saturday

27 Causes.

Tuesday
Thursday

Friday

Tuesday

Friday

Mr. Baron Alderson.

30 Petitions and Motions.

June 1 Further Directions, &c.

The Lord Chief Baron.

2 Causes.

6

Petitions and Motions. 9 Further Directions, &c.

Mr. Baron Alderson will sit in Gray's Inn Hall after Terin.

THE EDITOR'S LETTER BOX.

According to the wish of some of our subscribers in the country, we are making arrangements for stamping a country edition of

To amend the Law of Debtor and Creditor, and abolish Imprisonment for Debt. The Attorney General. To abolish useless Offices in the Common the Legal Observer, to be sent by the post on Law Courts, and Consolidate the Offices. Saturday evenings. This will be a mere change Mr. Serjeant Goulburn. in the mode of transmission of part of the im pression, for the accommodation of such as desire it. The Work itself will undergo no change, but be published in London in the same form, and sent by the booksellers as usual, to those who do not wish to receive it by the post. The alteration will be commenced as early as possible, and subscribers will please to give directions accordingly.

Concealment of Births.

NOTES OF THE WEEK.

ATTENDANCE AT THE LAW OFFICES.

The intended new rule for altering the hours of attendance at the Law Offices, which we mentioned some time ago, will be made, we understand, this Term. A deputation from the Incorporated Law Society lately attended one of the Senior Judges on the subject of the proposed rule, its convenience to practitioners, and its effect in regard to some matters of practice. We are informed that there is no difficulty in the of the arrangement, and way that the rule will soon be promulgated.

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The letter of "A Common Law Clerk" will appear soon.

We have seen at the Law Institution the printed paper described as a Case on the 43d Further Directions Elizabeth, for the relief of the poor," with and Exceptions to Re-"the opinion of Mr. Serjeant Snigge," and 24 ports; Pleas, Demur-bearing the name of "Gawdy, Attorney." rers, and Exceptions to We shall notice the controversy on the authenAuswers. ticity of this document in an early number.

The Legal Observer.

SUPPLEMENT
FOR MAY, 1837.

"Quod magis ad Nos

Pertinet, et nescire malum est, agitamus.”

HORAT.

AMENDMENT OF THE LAW OF
COPYRIGHT.

as it blesses mankind-should be exempted from the protection which is extended to the ancient appropriation of the soil, and the rewards of commercial enterprise."

the right of property in that which the mind itself creates, and which, so far from exhausting the materials common to all men, or limiting their resources, enriches and exMr. Serjeant TALFOURD on the 18th inst. pands them-a right of property which, by introduced to the House of Commons his the happy peculiarity of its nature, can only proposed Amendment of the Law of Copy-be enjoyed by the proprietor in proportion right. His speech is well deserving of attention, on account of its clear and able exposition of the defective state of the Law, -the remedies which he recommended, and the eloquence with which he enforced every After these and some other introductory topic of his "high argument." The main remarks, the honorable Member gave a conproposition for the extension of the term, cise and accurate history of the law, and the was received by the House with general and alterations which had been made in it, from marked approbation. The principle of the the first legislative enactment to the present measure seems to be firmly established, as time;-dwelling with much force of exwell by the unanswerable arguments and pression on all the main points of the subbrilliant eloquence of the Honorable Gentle-ject, on the common law right of "each man, as by the common and unanimous man to his copy,"—on the unchanged state assent and warm support of both sides of the of the equitable and legal remedies afforded House. It was indeed refreshing to witness to authors, (notwithstanding the statute of a short pause in the conflict of party,won Anne) till 1774;-the restoration of the perby the intellectual importance of the subject, petuity in the university copyrights;-the and by the taste and genius and judgment want of uniformity in the law, &c. &c. with which it was advocated. The learned Serjeant observed that it was indeed time that literature should experience some of the blessings of legislation; for hitherto, with the exception of the boon conferred on the acted drama by the bill of the member for Lincoln, it had received scarcely anything but evil. If," said he, "we should now simply repeal all the statutes which have been passed under the guise of encouraging learning, and leave it to be protected only by the principles of the common law, and the remedies which the common law could supply, I believe the relief would be welcome. It did not seem to our ancestors that the right of deriving solid benefits from that which springs solely from within usVOL. XIV.No. 400.

66

The learned Serjeant then proceeded to state his remedies.

I propose (he said) to render the law of copyright uniform; as to all books and works of art, to secure to the proprietor the same term in each; to give one plan of registration, and one mode of transfer. As the Stationers' Company have long enjoyed the control over the regis tration of books, I do not propose to take it from them, if they are willing to retain it with the increased trouble, compensated by the increased fees which their officer will be entitled to receive. I propose that, before any proceeding can be adopted for the violation of copyright, the author, or his assignee, shall deposit a copy of the work, whether book or engraving, with the officer of the company, and cause an entry to be made, in the form to be given in

E

66

Amendment of the Law of Copyright.

will at least enable him, while providing for the instruction and the delight of distant ages, to contemplate that he shall leave in his works themselves some legacy to those for whom a nearer, if not a higher duty, requires him to provide, and which shall make "death less terrible."

In support of the main proposition of the Bill-the extension of the duration of the term, the honorable Member made the following brilliant and powerful appeal to the feelings of the House; and he appears to have succeeded in making a deep impression, and to have carried the sense of the House entirely with him.

the act, of the proprietorship of the work whether absolute or limited-and that a copy of such entry, signed by the officer, shall be admitted in all courts as prima fucie evidence of the property. I propose that any transfer should be registered in like manner, in a form also to be given by the act, and that such transfer shall be evidence, by a similar copy. At present, great uncertainty prevails as to the original right of property in papers supplied to periodical works, or written at the instance of a bookseller, and as to the right of engraving from original pictures. However desirable it may be that these questions should be settled, it is impossible to interfere with the existing relations of booksellers and authors, or of patrons of art and artists. Neither, for the future, When the opponents of literary property do I propose to lay down any rule as to the rights which shall originally be expressed or implied speak of glory as the reward of genius, they between the parties themselves; but that the make an ungenerous use of the very nobleness right of copy shall be registered as to books, of its impulses, and show how little they have When Milton, pictures, or engravings, only with the consent profited by its high example. of both, expressed in writing; and, when this is in poverty and in blindness, fed the flame of done, shall be absolute in the party registered his divine enthusiasm by the assurance of a as owner. At present, an engraver or publisher, duration coequal with his language, I believe who has given a large sum for permission to with Lord Camden that no thought crossed engrave a picture, and expended his money or him of the wealth which might be amassed by labour in the plate, may be met by unexpected the sale of his poem; but surely some shadow competition, for which he has no remedy. By would have been cast upon "the clear dream making the registration not the condition of and solemn vision" of his future glories, had the right itself, but of the remedy by action or he foreseen that, while booksellers were otherwise, the independence of contracting striving to rival each other in the magniparties will be preserved, and this evil avoided ficence of their editions, or their adaptation for the future. A competent tribunal will still to the convenience of various classes of his be wanting; its establishment is beyond the admirers, his only surviving descendant-a scope of my intention or my power; but I feel woman-should be rescued from abject want that complete justice will not be done to litera-only by the charity of Garrick, who, at the soture and art until a mode shall be devised for a cheap and summary vindication of their injuries before some parties better qualified to determine it than our judges and juries.

licitation of Dr. Johnson, gave her a benefit at the theatre which had appropriated to itself The all that could be represented of Comus. liberality of genius is surely ill-urged for our But the main object of the bill which I contem- ungrateful denial of its rights. The late Mr. plate is, (I will not use those words of ill omen, Coleridge gave an example, not merely of its the further advancement of learning"-but) liberality, but of its profuseness; while he for additional justice to learning, by the further sought not even to appropriate to his fame the extension of time during which authors shall vast intellectual treasures which he had derived enjoy the direct pecuniary benefit immediately from boundless research, and coloured by a flowing from the sale of their own works. glorious imagination; while he scattered Although I see no reason why authors should abroad the seeds of beauty and of wisdom to not be restored to that inheritance which, un- take root in congenial minds, and was content der the name of protection and encourage- to witness their fruits in the productions of But ought we, therement, has been taken from them, I feel that the those who heard him. subject has so long been treated as matter of fore, the less to deplore, now when the music compromise between those who deny that the of his divine philosophy is for ever hushed, that creations of the inventive faculty, or the achieve- the earlier portion of those works on which he ments of reason, are the subjects of property at stamped his own impress-which he sought all, and those who think the property should from the world that they should recognize last as long as the works which contain truth as his are published for the gain of others and beauty live, that I propose still to treat it than his children-that his death is illustrated on the principle of compromise, and to rest by the forfeiture of their birthright? What satisfied with a fairer adjustment of the dif-justice is there in this? Do we reward our Did we tell our Marlboroughs, ference than the last act of Parliment affords.heroes so?

I shall propose-subject to modification when our Nelsons, our Wellingtons, that glory was the details of the measure shall be discussed-their reward, that they fought for posterity, We that the term of property in all works of learn- and that posterity would pay them? ing, genius, and art, to be produced hereafter, leave them to no such cold and uncertain reor in which the Stationers' copyright now sub-quital; we do not even leave them merely to sists, shall be extended to 60 years, to be com- enjoy the spoils of their victories which we puted from the death of the author, which deny to the author-we concentrate a nation's

Amendment af the Law of Copyright.

67

honest feeling of gratitude and pride into the nature would turn her last calamity into the form of an endowment, and teach other ages means of provision for survivors. At the mowhat we thought, and what they ought to ment when his name is invested with the solemn think, of their deeds, by the substantial memo-interest of the grave-when his eccentricities rials of our praise. Were our Shakspeare and Milton less the ornaments of their country,less the benefactors of mankind? Would the example be less inspiring if we permitted them to enjoy the spoils of their peaceful victories? If we allowed to their descendants-not the tax assessed by present gratitude and charged on the future, but if we permitted the future freely to pay its own contributions-to sanction a reward which must be restricted to the actual good, and which will only be paid by those who share and are concious of the blessing?

or frailties excite a smile or a shrug no longer -when the last seal is set upon his earthly course, and his works assume their place among the classics of his country, your law says his works shall become your property, and you will requite him by seizing the patrimony of his children. We blame the errors and excesses of genius, aud we leave them-justly leave them-for the most part to the consequences of their strangely blended nature; but if genius, in assertion of its divine alliances, produces large returns when the course of its frail posBut I do not press these considerations to sessor is spent, why is the public to insult his the full extent. The past is beyond our power; descendants with their alms and their pity? and I only ask for the present a brief reversion What right have we to moralize over the exin the future. Riches, fineless, are already cesses of a Burns, and insult his memory by ours. It is in truth the greatness of the bles- charitable honours, while we are taking the sings which the world inherits from genius benefit of his premature death, in the expiration that dazzels the mind on this question, and of his copyright and the cheapness of his works? the habit of repaying its bounty by words, that Or-to advert to a case in which the highest confuses us and indisposes us to justice. It is intellectual powers were associated with the because the spoils of time are irrevocably ours; noblest moral excellence-what right have we because the forms of antique beauty wear for us to take credit to ourselves for a paltry and the bloom of an imperishable youth; because ineffectual subscription, to rescue Abbotsford the elder literature of our own country is a for the family of its great author, while we insist free mine of wealth to the bookseller, and of on appropriating now the profits of his earlier delight to ourselves, that we are unable to un-powers, and anticipate the time when, in a few derstand the claim of our contemporaries to a years, his novels will be ours without rentcharge beneficial interest in their works; because to enjoy, and any one's to copy, to emasculate, genius of necessity communicates so much, we and to garble? This is the case of one whom cannot conceive it as retaining anything for its Kings and people delighted to honour; but look possessor. There is a sense, indeed, in which on another picture-that of a man of genius the poets" on earth have made us heirs of truth and integrity, who has received all the insult a pure delight in heavenly lays ;" and it is be- and injury from his contemporaries, and cause of this very boon-because their thoughts obtains nothing from posterity but a name. become our thoughts, and their phrases un- Look at Daniel De Foe; recollect him pilloconsciously enrich our daily language-be- ried, bankrupt, wearing away his life to pay his cause their works, harmonious in themselves, creditors in full, and dying in the strugglesuggest to us the rules of composition by which and his works live, imitated, corrupted, yet their imitators should be guided-because to casting off the stains-not by protection of law, them we can resort, and "in our golden urns but by their own pure essence. Had every draw light," that we cannot fancy them apart school-boy whose young imagination has been from ourselves, or admit that they have any prompted by his great work, and whose heart property except in our praise. And our grati has learned to beat in the strange yet familiar tude is shown not only in leaving their descen- solitude he created, given even the halfpenny dants without portion in the benefits derived of the statute of Anne, there would have been from their works, but in leaving even their no want of a provision for his children, no need fame to be frittered away in abridgments, and of a subscription for a statue to his memory. polluted by base intermixtures, and denying to their descendants even the cold privilege of watching over and protecting it.

There is something, besides, peculiarly unjust in bounding the term of an author's property by that of his natural life. It denies to age and experience the probable reward it permits to youth-to youth sufficiently full of hope and joy, to slight its promises. It gives a bounty to haste, and informs the laborious student who would never worry his life to complete some work which "the world will not willingly let die," that the more of his life he devotes to its perfection, the more limited shall be his interest in its fruits. It stops the progress of remuneration at the moment it is most needed, and when

Its

The term allowed by the existing law is curiously adapted to encourage the lightest works, and to leave the noblest unprotected. little span is ample for authors who seek only to amuse; who, "to beguile the time, look like the time; " who lend to frivolity or corruption "lighter wings to fly; " who sparkle, blaze, and expire. These may be well-the fireflies on the heaving sea of public opinion, and transitory: yet surely it is not just to legislate for those alone, and deny all reward to that literature which aspires to endure.

Let us suppose an author, of true original genius, disgusted with the inane phraseology which had usurped the place of poetry, and had devoted himself from youth to its service, disdaining the gauds which attract the care