Part 50 (1/2)

Mr. BONYNGE. But they could not be copyrighted until they were reduced to writing, could they?

Mr. WALKER. Yes; they could, under this bill.

Mr. BONYNGE. How?

Mr. CURRIER. What would you file in the copyright office?

Mr. WALKER. You do not have to file anything for a year.

Mr. CURRIER. I know that; but you have got to file something then.

Mr. WALKER. But you get a year's copyright without ever doing that, and this bill would give a man a monopoly of a whole year on a speech never reduced to writing, and that is a ”limited time.” And if he chooses ever to reduce it to writing, then all he has got to do is to file one copy in the office of the Library of Congress and not publish it at all.

Mr. CHANEY. Well, you must remember that we must confine this to copyrighted matter.

Mr. WALKER. You must confine it quite narrowly, I think; but please let me develop my particular thought.

It is perfectly plain that under this bill a man may have a copyright on an oral sermon, lecture, or address and maintain that copyright for a whole year without that discourse ever being even put into typewriting during that period. That is a perfectly plain case, therefore, of copyrighting a work that is not a writing.

Now, come down to subsection G, ”works of art.” There is another item.

Now, that word is much broader than ”writings.” I have made a good many works of art myself. Everybody that invents a complicated machine produces a work of art and a work of high art. There are a great many works of art here in this room which could not by any possible strain of language be denominated ”writings.” There is a perfectly plain case of attempting to copyright, under this statute, a work which is not also a writing.

Mr. CURRIER. What change would you suggest in subsection G?

Mr. WALKER. I have formulated such a change as that, but it would take a little time to explain it.

Mr. CURRIER. Very well. Take your own course.

Mr. WALKER. I am very glad to be at the disposal of the committee, but it would take me five minutes to explain. It is a very important point.

Subsection H covers ”Reproductions of a work of art.” There is a perfectly flagrant case of attempting to copyright not only a thing that is not necessarily a writing, but also a thing that is not even original; whereas the Supreme Court has told us over and over again that nothing can be copyrighted that is not original.

Now, go over to the next page, page 4, Cla.s.s L:

Labels and prints relating to articles of manufacture, as heretofore registered in the Patent Office under the act of June 18, 1874.

That was the very act that the Supreme Court held fifteen years ago was unconst.i.tutional as not authorizing copyright on things which are not writings. So that there is a recommendation to this committee to reenact a law that the Supreme Court has expressly held to be unconst.i.tutional.

Now, come, if you please, to the second page of this bill. The first section of this bill enumerates exclusive rights to be covered by copyright. Subsection C is:

To deliver, or authorize the delivery of, in public for profit, any copyrighted lecture, sermon, address, or similar production prepared for oral delivery.

Mr. CAMPBELL. What page is that?

Mr. WALKER. The top of page 2.

Senator SMOOT. Subdivision C.

Mr. WALKER. (Reading):