Arguments before the Committee on Patents of the House of Representatives Part 17

DEAR SIR: Very many thanks for your courteous communication of the 29th instant, and I a.s.sure you that I appreciate the compliment paid in the sending thereof.

If all is well, Mr. Witmark and myself will be at the conference.

Earnestly hoping that the bill will be pa.s.sed in its present perfect form, believe me,

Very truly, yours,

LEO FEIST.

WILc.o.x & BULL, COUNSELORS AT LAW, _Buffalo, N.Y., June 5, 1906_.

Hon. HERBERT PUTNAM, _Library of Congress, Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C._

MY DEAR MR. PUTNAM: I beg to acknowledge, with thanks, various circulars and doc.u.ments relating to the new copyright bill, including the proof copy of the bill as printed May 19, and the printed copy of the bill as introduced May 31, with notices of the first hearing before the joint committees of the Senate and House, on Wednesday, June 6, at the Library building, and of the preliminary conference to be held to-day, all of which have had my careful attention.

I congratulate you that the bill has taken this definite form and is now to be given a preliminary hearing so that it will be in shape to be urged for pa.s.sage next winter. The bill is a monument to the industry and broad intelligence and information of those who have been actively concerned in drafting it, and particularly of yourself and Mr. Solberg. I am proud to have had any share, however slight, in outlining it, and shall be glad to take part as actively as possible in urging it upon Congress and commending it to the people at large.

As affecting the interest of my client, the Consolidated Lithograph Company, which is a large producer of lithographic and other prints, engravings, etc., especially for use as posters, the form of the bill seems satisfactory to me and I have no doubt it will be so to my client. This refers particularly to the provisions of sections 4 and 5, defining the subject-matter of copyright and the form of applications for registration. These provisions are in the highest degree liberal and enlightened.

The Consolidated Lithograph Company has suggested that I attend the hearing in Was.h.i.+ngton to-morrow. I should like to do this, at least for the purpose of showing the interest which we feel in the measure and to a.s.sist in impressing the committees of Congress with its importance, though I know that after this hearing the bill will simply lie over for further consideration and for action at the next session. But it seems impracticable for me to be in Was.h.i.+ngton to-morrow, and I think that I can be of more service at a later time, when I hope that the company will still be disposed to send me there.

Very truly, yours,

ANSLEY WILc.o.x.

P.S.--Will you please send me an extra copy of the bill, or two if you have them to spare?

STATEMENT OF WILLIAM P. CUTTER, ESQ., OF THE FORBES LIBRARY, NORTHAMPTON, Ma.s.s.

Mr. CUTTER. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I claim to represent no a.s.sociation, nor to represent myself personally. I claim to represent only the public libraries of the following cities: Chicago, St. Louis, Baltimore, Louisville, Pittsburg, Newark, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, and Springfield, Ma.s.s. Also the libraries of the following universities and colleges: Yale, Cornell, Colgate, Wisconsin, Michigan, Amherst, and Brown; the New York State Library and the Connecticut State Library; the Western Ma.s.sachusetts Library Club, comprising a members.h.i.+p of forty libraries, and the Connecticut Library a.s.sociation, representing the organization of libraries in Connecticut. I wish to speak a few moments on that provision contained at the bottom of page 24 of the Senate print of the bill.

Mr. WEBB. What section?

Mr. CUTTER. Section 30; the third subsection of section 30, at the bottom of page 24, line 25, including all after the words "United States"--in other words, that portion of the bill which prohibits importation by public inst.i.tutions of a certain cla.s.s of books.

You are well aware of the fact that existing law allows public libraries to import two copies of any book without any restriction as to what the book shall be. There are certain points that will make the suggested legislation a great hards.h.i.+p to the libraries.

Mr. CURRIER. Pardon me just a minute. Can you import two copies of an unauthorized edition?

Mr. CUTTER. Yes, sir.

Mr. CURRIER. Can you do that to-day?

Mr. CUTTER. Yes, sir; we can now.

Mr. CURRIER. A fraudulent reprint, for instance?

Mr. CUTTER. Yes, sir.

Mr. CURRIER. There is absolutely no restriction, as you understand it to-day?

Mr. CUTTER. There is no restriction at all, as I understand, on library importations; but there is in this bill in regard to it.

Mr. CURRIER. I was asking about existing law.

Mr. CUTTER. Yes; I understand that libraries can import any books that they wish.

Mr. CURRIER. I had the contrary opinion, but I may be mistaken.

Mr. CHANEY. You object to that entire part of the bill, do you?

Mr. CUTTER. Yes; I object to it princ.i.p.ally for this reason: In importations for large libraries, such as those that I represent--it does not apply to small libraries which import only a small number of books--a case of books will come in from abroad, books that are not copyrighted in this country, English books. One book in that case might, by a mistake, be one which was copyrighted here, printed in England, and containing no notice of its copyright in the United States of America. If that fact was discovered it would send all of that box of books to public store; it would place all the box of books, as I understand, in danger of being destroyed; and it would place the librarian who did the importing in danger of having to show the Secretary of the Treasury, under this law, that he was not guilty of trying to import that book illicitly.

Mr. CURRIER. Under what section of this law? Let that go in the record right here.

Mr. PUTNAM. Sections 28 and 29, I think.

Mr. CUTTER. Section 28 is in regard to the condemnation, on page 21 of the Senate print. Sections 26 to 29 include the penalties that I have referred to.

Our objection to that is the fact that libraries in these days must have at their disposal as quickly as possible the printed thought of foreign countries. If there is any delay in our obtaining the box of books (and those who have had experience, as I have, for thirteen years in importing books for libraries in this country, know that there is often six months delay in getting a box of books through the custom-house where there is the least question as to any of them) it would mean, practically, that our reason for buying the books at that time had disappeared. We want the printed English thought as quickly as possible.

Mr. CHANEY. Do you think that is necessary to the efficiency of a public library?

Mr. CUTTER. I do.

Mr. CHANEY. That you should get those books immediately?

Mr. CUTTER. I do; yes, sir.

Now, my other reason is a commercial reason; and in order to state it I shall have to go somewhat into ancient history.

About the year 1901 certain publishers of this country formed an a.s.sociation called the American Publishers' a.s.sociation, and, in conjunction with the American Booksellers' a.s.sociation, entered into an agreement to control absolutely the selling price of books in this country. It was an agreement among the publishers that they would not furnish books to booksellers who would not agree to sell the books at a standard price--in other words, a trust proposition.

Mr. CHANEY. We have heard of trusts before. [Laughter.]

Mr. CUTTER. The libraries were granted a 10 per cent discount from the price of the cla.s.s of books affected by this agreement, so-called net-price books. We discovered, however, on examination, that these new prices which were fixed were so much higher that the net result to us was an advance of 25 per cent in the price of the book, and we found that the majority of those books were not books written by American authors, but they were books written by English authors and copyrighted in this country, and that there was a difference in price amounting to the 25 per cent tariff on printed books. So that this question, gentlemen, is a question of trusts and a question of tariff.

Now, the librarians have been getting around that by importing English books, because the same book printed on the other side is sold in the case of these expensive books at a very much reduced price compared with the price on this side. If--I am going back now to my first position--if I am prevented, by the difficulties in getting through, by accident, a copyrighted book, from getting at the noncopyrighted book so long, then I will be forced to go to Mr. Scribner, who will buy the books for me abroad at his price, against my interest.

Senator MALLORY. Do I understand you to say that that book trust is still in operation?

Mr. CUTTER. Certainly.

Now, I am connected with a library that spends $12,000 a year for books in a country town. Of this sum $5,000 is spent for English books. I am a representative of a city government which taxes itself to a certain extent to educate the people in its community, and I object seriously to paying $1,000 of that $12,000 to American publishers as a tax. That is my point.

Mr. CURRIER. What changes in this bill do you suggest?