COPYRIGHT.
To Ton Entron oi Tun srECTAT0a.
" I have selle naked thonghts stied' rove about, A iol total! y knock to have their passage out ! A tul. ii ear3 of their laace, do ota y stay, Till latLuage decks them in Ins hest a.ray ; TIra t he) nia■ without suspect or rears, 1:1 sulfa) to tie: Legislature's eats."
ene—While the public mind is in a state of fusion (or confusion) on the above sullied, 1 crave the honour of placing in your independent columns a few remarks. In this age of telk about the education and general amelioration of the state of the community, no subject can be more important than this, for On it depends the kite! of incited foul to be provided for the comoioonelty of this realm after the power of readieg has been diffused. That price affects the circulation of all commodities, is an ackeowledged principle. The difference of living, these, &e. (with the exceptions ntterolant on all general rules,) ate trace- able to want of means to puncture higher enjut meats, eon the want of taste to prefer a some; Mr to an inferior commodity. Nuw, as regards copyright, it is no more or lea, than a cutup 'iv granted by the cummunity, as a mode of rewarding and encouraging notions, than %chid' mini lung can he inoie just ; the only point to restrict (as all noonepolies me injurious.) belie; too long a pet Mil. The ddlierence. ef prices in public:ulnae. clopyright and toonseopyt igle, are well known, as well as the gradual apprrximation to popular fern's and price as exclusive tight ap- proeches its termination. The arc ival of this point shows the contrast betwixt monopoly awl cumpetition; the former when exceeding a fair period) in the light of a mental corn-Jew, on the plot of reaping remunerating prices and keeping pour lamb in cultivation, ur ow:metre of ;mimc fieltls, moat fatal to the enjoyment of the commons, which nobody willilei.y.
I hold such a pi oeedure in society (monstrously dieproportioneol in relative numbers as regards extreme luxury wool ease awl lebour and waut,) as the reverse of what ought to lie pursued ; tequiring inetead evei y latitude being given to objects tenolieg to better the latter, ployeteelly and mentally, not " inuz- Sling the ox that treadeth out the curs," ur tainting " the (numbs that fall flour the rich mait's table."
If Committees of the House of Commons sit and report for any practically good putpese, haus it cot been elicited thee seven yea's) are about the longeet term calculated upon bv ',Wieners for sue continuing? why then are high prices to continue se long even as for twenty-eight yeale or more, and the con- temporary (if not succeeding ) generations p posing away without having any be- nefit from the literary pi ooluctions of their own times ? Authors, publishers, or assignees, dog-in.thsoneriger like, (without, however, thgdog's extuuse, probably, for though. not his food, hay was his bed,) keep on their .helves works posseesed by ail the richer order of readeis and collectors. but out of the reel, of all others, until stone intellectual Mid commercial " Tegg" arise no an after age ant comhines his worldly advancement with that of the mental enancipetion and cominisset irt if hit I:toiletry, drawing very moderately upon the pockets of his patrons, as well as spaciousness of bookcases. Much depende upon the je use Buis quid" of business, or how comes it with materials princi• pally room a public common, in all publisher.' handle that -- occupies his Proud atation? look at his shop, extetior and interior ; " use ordinary spirit te- ch. there" is the invuluntary exclaim ! 'The small-sized publications are alum the mo:s useful, are inure read, do not get placed in grand, libraries, uncut and unread. Give me a convenient—wed edition of a good book, (Spec- tator-like, as regards newspapers,) fit for pocket or fireside ! Such books, a great bibliopnlist says, are the most uvefitl : and another saying is, "a gra at book is a great bore." If an author kept his coNright, the views of Mr. Ser- geant Te erocuo might lie more reason lute; but this would be dangerous, from risk of collusion with others. It is generally acknowledged to be one business to write, another to publish ; and the wording of aesignmeets or other deeds of conveyance are so comprehensive, that legislative enactments, without being unjest, cannot benefit author., butt their assigns—the seven-year calcu- lators. The following is one form in use when a transfer is made—viz. "jiff the absolute sole of all my copyright and interest, present and.intore, rested and contingent, or otherwise ;" some even include "also in all fort if,n countries." I do not think any purchaser could eistly be found for a stuuui t term; would it not be like a man refunding prizes and retaining blanks? How many works answer of the multitude annually teeming from the reel? one in 300 or 5,000. After publishers adding the advantage of publicity by expensive adver- tising and all the other mvetical intleences of their canine, besidee probably euggesting the subject and form of treattnent front a knowledge of the public taste, and having it done expressly for them, those works that succeed axe to be reclaimable. Is it necessai y to ask, can this be just ?
I have the honour to be, Mr. Editor, your constant reader, PAO BONO PIIIBLICO.
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