market shall _always_ be supplied? Perhaps it does, but most probably it
does not. If it does, does it also provide for the appointment of
commissioners to see that the provision is always complied with? If it
does not, nothing would seem to be easier than to send out the plates of a
large book, print off a small edition, and by thus complying with _the
letter_ of the law, establishing the copyright for the long term of
forty-two years, the moment after which the plates could be returned to
the place whence they came, and from that place the consumers could be
supplied on condition of paying largely to the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, to the "Times," to the profits of Mr. Dickens' advertising
sheet, to the author, to the London bookseller, to his agent in America,
and the retail dealer here. In cases like this, and they would be
numerous, the "few cents" would probably rise to be many dollars; and no
way can, I think, be devised to prevent their occurrence, except to take
one more step forward in centralization by the appointment of
commissioners in various parts of the Union, to see that the market is
properly supplied, and that the books offered for sale have been actually
printed on this side of the Atlantic.
If the treaty does provide for publication here, it probably allows some
time therefor, say one, two, or three months. It is, however, well-known
that of very many books the first few weeks' sales constitute so important
a part of the whole that were the publisher here deprived of them, the
book would never be republished. No one could venture to print until the
time had elapsed, and by that time the English publisher would so well
have occupied the ground with the foreign edition that publication here
would be effectually stopped. Even under the present _ad valorem_ system
of duties this is being done to a great extent. One, two, or three hundred
copies of large works are cheaply furnished, and the market is thus just
so far occupied as to forbid the printing of an edition of one or more
thousands--to the material injury of paper-makers, printers, and
book-binders, and without any corresponding benefit to the foreign author.
Under the proposed system this would be done to a great extent.
Admit, however, that the spirit of the law be fully complied with, and let
us see its effects. Mr. Dickens sells his book in England for 21_s_.
($5.00); and he will, of course, desire to have for it here as large a
price as it will bear. Looking at our prices for those books which are
copyright and of which the sale is large, he finds that "Bleak House"
contains four times as much as the "Reveries of a Bachelor," which sells
for $1.25, and he will be most naturally led to suppose that $3 is a
reasonable price. The number of copies of his book that has been supplied
to American readers, through newspapers and magazines, is certainly not
less than 250,000, and the average cost has not been' more than fifty
cents, giving for the whole the sum of
$125,000
To supply the same number at his price would cost.
750,000
Difference
$625,000
Of Mr. Bulwer's last work, the number that has been supplied to American
consumers is probably but about two thirds as great, and the difference
might not amount to more than
$350,000
Mr. Macaulay would not be willing to sell his book more cheaply than that
of Mr. Bancroft's is sold, or $2 per volume, and he might ask $2.50.
Taking it at the former price, the 125,000 copies that have been sold
would cost the consumer
$500,000
They have been supplied for
100,000
The difference would be
$400,000
Mr. Alison's work would make twelve such volumes as those of Mr. Bancroft,
and his price would not be less than $25. The sale has amounted, as I
understand, to 25,000 copies, which would give as the cost of the whole
$625,000
The price at which they have been sold is $5, giving
125,000
Difference
$500,000
Of "Jane Eyre" there have been sold 80,000, and if the price had been
similar to that of "Fanny Fern," they would have cost the consumers.
$100,000
They have cost about
25,000
Difference
$75,000
Total result of a "few cents" on five books, $1,950,000
Under the system of international copyright, one of two things must be
done--either the people _must_ be taxed in the whole of this amount for
the benefit of the various persons, abroad and at home, who are now to be
invested with the monopoly power, or they must largely diminish their
purchases of literary food.
The quantity of books above given cannot be regarded as more than one
twentieth of the total quantity of new ones annually printed. Admit,
however, that the total were but ten times greater, and that the
differences were but one fourth as great, it would be required that this
sum of $1,950,000 should be multiplied two and a half times, and that
would give about five millions of dollars; which, added to the sum already
obtained, would make seven millions _per annum_; and yet we have arrived
only at the commencement of the operation. All these books would require
to be reprinted in the next year, and the next, and so on, and for the
long period of forty-two years the payment on old books would require to
be added to those on new ones, until the sum would become a very startling
one. To enable us to ascertain what it must become, let us see what it
would now be had this system existed in the past. Every one of Scott's
novels would still be copyright, and such would be the case with Byron's
poems, and with all other books that have been printed in the last
forty-two years, of which the annual sale now amounts to many millions of
volumes. To the present price of these let us add the charge of the
author, and the monopoly charges of the English and American publishers,
and it will be found quite easy to obtain a further sum of five millions,
which, added to that already obtained, would make twelve millions _per
annum_, or enough to give to one in every four thousand males in the
United Kingdom, between the ages of twenty and sixty, a salary far
exceeding that of our Secretaries of State. Let this treaty be confirmed,
and let the consumption of foreign works continue at its present rate, and
payment of this sum must be made. We can escape its payment only on
condition of foregoing consumption of the books.
The real cause of difficulty is not to be found in "the few cents"
required for the author, but in the means required to be adopted for their
collection. Everybody that reads "Bleak House," or "Oliver Twist," would
gladly pay their author some cents, however unwilling he might be to pay
dollars, or pounds. So, too, everybody who uses chloroform would willingly
pay something to its discoverer; and every one who believes in and profits
by homeopathic medicines would be pleased to contribute "a few cents" for
the benefit of Hahnemann, his widow, or his children. A single cent paid
by all who travel on steam vessels would make the family of Fulton one of
the richest in the world; but how collect these "few cents"? Grant me a
monopoly, says the author, and I will appoint an agent, who shall supply
other agents with my books, and I will settle with him. Grant us a
monopoly, say the representatives of Hahnemann, and we will grant
licenses, throughout the Union, to numerous men who shall be authorized to
practice homeopathically and collect our taxes. Were this experiment
tried, it would be found that millions would be collected, out of which
they would receive tens of thousands. Grant us a monopoly, might say the
representatives of Fulton, and we will permit no vessels to be built
without license from us, and our agents will collect "a few cents" from
each passenger, by which we shall be enriched. So they might be; but for
every cent that reached them the community would be taxed dollars in loss
of time and comfort, and in extra charges. It is the monopoly privilege,
and not the "few cents," that makes the difficulty.
We are, however, advised by the advocates of this treaty that English
authors must be "required" to present their books in American "mode and
dress," and that regard to their own interests will cause them to be
presented "at MODERATE PRICES for general consumption." If, however, they
have acted differently at home, why should they pursue this course here?
That they have so acted, we have proof in the fact that the British
government has just been forced to turn bookseller, with a view to
restrain the owners of copyrights in the exercise of power. Who, again, is
to determine what prices are really "moderate" ones? The authors? Will Mr.
Macaulay consent that his books shall be sold for less than those of Mr.
Bancroft or Mr. Prescott? Assuredly not. The bookseller, then? Will he not
use his power in reference to foreign books precisely as he does now in
regard to domestic ones? If he deems it now expedient to sell a 12mo
volume for a dollar or a dollar and a quarter, is it probable that the
ratification of this treaty will open his eyes to the fact that it would
be better for him to sell Mr. Dickens's works at fifty cents than at three
dollars? Scarcely so, as I think. It is now about thirty years since the
"Sketch Book" was printed, and the cheapest edition that has yet been
published sells for one dollar and twenty-five cents. "Jane Eyre" contains
probably about the same quantity of matter, and sells for twenty-five
cents. Of the latter, about 80,000 have been printed, costing the
consumers $20,000; but if they were to purchase the same quantity of the
former, they would pay for them $100,000; difference, $80,000. What, now,
would become of this large sum? But little of it would reach the author;
not more, probably, than $10,000. Of the remaining $70,000, some would go
to printers, paper-makers, and bookbinders, and the balance would be
distributed among the publisher, the trade-sale auctioneers, and the
wholesale and retail dealers; the result being that the public would pay
five dollars where the author received one, or perhaps the half of one. We
have here the real cause of difficulty. The monopoly of copyright can be
preserved only by connecting it with the monopoly of publication. Were it
possible to say that whoever chose to publish the "Sketch Book" might do
so, on paying to its author "a few cents," the difficulty of this _double
monopoly_ would be removed; but no author would consent to this, for he
could have no certainty that his book might not be printed by unprincipled
men, who would issue ten thousand while accounting to him for only a
single thousand. To enable him to collect his dues, he _must_ have a
monopoly of publication.
It may be said that if he appropriate to his use any of the common
property of which books are made up, and so misuse his privilege as to
impose upon his readers the payment of too heavy a tax, other persons may
use the same facts and ideas, and enter into competition with him. In no
other case, however, than in those of the owners of patents and
copyrights, where the public recognizes the existence of exclusive claim
to any portion of the common property, does it permit the party to fix the
price at which it may be sold. The right of eminent domain is common
property. In virtue of it, the community takes possession of private
property for public purposes, and frequently for the making of roads. Not
unfrequently it delegates to private companies this power, but it always
fixes the rate of charge to be made to persons who use the road. This is
done even when general laws are passed authorizing all who please, on
compliance with certain forms, to make roads to suit themselves. In such
cases, limitation would seem to be unnecessary, as new roads could be made
if the tolls on old ones were too high; and yet it is so well understood
that the making of roads does carry with it monopoly power, that the rates
of charge are always limited, and so limited as not to permit the
road-makers to obtain a profit disproportioned to the amount of their
investments. In the case of authors there can be no such limitation. They
must have monopoly powers, and the law therefore very wisely limits the
time within which they may be exercised, as in the other case it limits
the price that may be charged. In France, the prices to be paid to
dramatic authors are fixed by law, and all who pay may play; and if this
could be done in regard to all literary productions, permitting all who
paid to print, much of the difficulty relative to copyright would be
removed; but this course of operation would be in direct opposition to the
views of publishers who advocate this treaty on the ground that it would
add to "the security and respectability of the trade." They would
_prefer_ to pay for the copyright of every foreign book, because it would
bring with it monopoly prices and monopoly profits, both of which would
need to be paid by the consumers of books. To the paper-maker, printer,
and bookbinder, called upon to supply one thousand of a book for _the
few_, where before they had supplied ten thousand for _the many_, it
would be small consolation to know that they were thereby building up the
fortunes of two or three large publishing houses that had obtained a
monopoly of the business of republication, and were thus adding to the
"security and respectability of the trade." As little would probably be
derived from this source by the father of a family who found that he had
now to pay five dollars for what before had cost but one, and must
therefore endeavor to borrow, where before he had been accustomed to buy,
the books required for the amusement and instruction of his children.
Our State of New Jersey levies a transit duty of eight cents per ton on
all the merchandise that crosses it. Had the imposition of this tax been
accompanied by a law permitting all who chose to make roads, no one would
have complained of it, as it would have been little more than a fair tax
on the property of the railroad and other companies. Unfortunately,
however, the course was different. To the company that collected it was
granted a monopoly of the power of transportation, and that power has been
so used that while the State received but eight cents the transporters
charged three, five, six, and eight dollars for work that should have been
done for one. The position in which the authors are necessarily placed is
precisely the one in which our State has voluntarily placed itself. To
enable them to collect their dues, some person or persons must have a
monopoly of publication, and they must and will collect five, ten, and
often twenty dollars for every one that reaches the author. The Union
would gain largely by paying into our treasury thrice the sum we receive
for transit duty, on the simple condition that we abolished the monopoly
of transportation; and it would gain far more largely by doing the same
with foreign authors. If justice does really call upon us to pay them, our
true course would be to do it directly from the Treasury, placing, if
necessary, a million of dollars annually at the disposal of the British
government, upon the simple condition that it releases us from all claim
to the monopoly of publication. Such a release would be cheap, even at two
millions; enough to give $4,000 a year to five hundred persons, and that
number would certainly include all who can even fancy us under any
obligation to them. My own impression is, that no such payment is required
by justice, either as regards our own authors or foreign ones. Of the
former, all can be and are well paid, _who can produce books that the
public are willing to read_, and no law that could be made would secure
payment to those who cannot. Their monopoly extends over a smaller number
of persons than does the English one; and if the more than thirty millions
of people who are subject to the latter cannot support their few writers,
the cause of difficulty is to be found at home, and there must the remedy
be applied. Nevertheless, by adopting the course suggested, we should
certainly free ourselves from any necessity for choosing between the
payment of many millions annually to authors and the men who stand between
them and the public, on the one hand, and of dispensing largely with the
purchase of books, on the other. If the nation must pay, the fewer persons
through whose hands the money passes the smaller will be the cost to it,
and the greater the gain to authors.
The ratification of the treaty would impose upon us a very large amount of
taxation that must inevitably be paid either in money or in abstinence
from intellectual nourishment; and our authors should be able to satisfy
themselves that the advantage to them would bear some proportion to the
loss inflicted upon others. Would it do so? I think not. On the contrary,
they would find their condition greatly impaired. All publishers prefer
copyright books, because, having a monopoly, they can charge monopoly
profits. To obtain a copyright, they constantly pay considerable sums at
home for editorship of foreign books; but from the moment that this treaty
shall take effect, the necessity for doing this will cease, and thus will
our literary men be deprived of one considerable source of profit. Again,
literary labor in England is cheap, because of want of demand; but
international copyright, by opening to it our vast market, will quicken
the demand, and many more books will be produced, the authors of all of
which will be competitors with our own, who will then possess no
advantages over them. The rates of American authors will then fall
precisely as those of the British ones will rise; and this result will be
produced as certainly as the water in the upper chamber of a canal lock
will fall as that in the lower one is made to rise. On one side of the
Atlantic literary labor is well paid, and on the other it is badly paid.
International copyright will establish a level; and how much reason our
authors have to desire that it shall be established, I leave it for them
to determine.
The direct tendency of the system now proposed will be found to be that of
diminishing the domestic competition for the production of books, and
increasing our dependence on foreigners for the means of amusement and
instruction; and yet the confirmation of the treaty is urged on the ground
that it will increase the first and diminish the last. If it would have
this latter effect, it is singular that the authors of England should be
so anxious for the measure as they are. It is not usual for men to seek to
diminish the dependence of others on themselves.
These, however, are, as I think, but a small part of the inconveniences to
which our authors are now proposing to subject themselves. They have at
present a long period allowed them, during which they have an absolute
monopoly of the particular forms of words they offer to the reading
public; and this monopoly has, in a very few years, become so productive,
that authorship offers perhaps larger profits than any other pursuit
requiring the same amount of skill and capital. Twenty years hence, when
the market shall be greatly increased, it may, and as I think will, become
a question whether the monopoly has not been granted for too long a
period, and many persons may then be found disposed to unite with Mr.
Macaulay in the belief that the disadvantages of long periods preponderate
so greatly over their advantages, as to make it proper to retrace in part
our steps, limiting the monopoly to twenty-one years, or one half the
present period. The inquiry may then come to be made, what is the present
value of a monopoly of forty-two years, as compared with what would be
paid for one of twenty-one years; and when it is found that, in nine
hundred and ninety-nine cases out of a thousand, one will sell for exactly
as much as the other, it will perhaps be decided that no reason exists for
maintaining the present law, even if no change be now made. Suppose,
however, the treaty to be confirmed, establishing the monopoly of
foreigners in our market, and that the people who have been accustomed to
consume largely of cheap literature now find themselves deprived of it,
would not this tend to hasten the period at which the existing law would
come under consideration? I cannot but think it would. The common school
makes a great demand for school-books, and both make a great demand for
newspapers. All of these combine to make a demand for cheap books among an
immense and influential portion of our community, that cannot yet afford
to pay $1.25 for "Fern Leaves" or for the "Reveries of a Bachelor,"
although they can well afford 25 cents for a number of "Harper's
Magazine," or for "Jane Eyre." Let us now suppose that the novels of
Dickens and Bulwer, the books of Miss Aguilar, and those of other authors
with which they have been accustomed to supply themselves, should at once
be raised to monopoly prices and thus placed beyond their reach, would it
not produce inquiry into the cause, and would not the answer be that we
had given English authors a monopoly in our market to enable our own to
secure a monopoly in that of England? Would not the sufferers next inquire
by what process this had been accomplished, seeing that the direct
representatives of the people had always been so firmly opposed to it; and
would not the answer be that the literary men of the two countries had
formed a combination for the purpose of taxing the people of both; and
that when they had failed to accomplish their object by means of
legislation, they had induced the Executive to interpose and make a law in
their favor, in defiance of the well-known will of the House of
Representatives? Under such circumstances, would it be extraordinary if we
should, within three years from the ratification of the treaty, see the
commencement of an agitation for a change in the copyright system? It
seems to me that it would not.