The Ramik Report (Plagiarism/Copyright Issue)

Chapter 2—Early Statutes

“In this country it is well settled that property in copyright is the creation of the Federal statute passed in the exercise of the power vested in Congress by the Federal Constitution in Art. I, § 8, ‘to promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.’” ¹ Pursuant to the latter section of the Constitution, Congress passed the first Copyright Act of May 31, 1790, ch. 15 (1 Stat. 124) which provided that an author “shall have the sole right and liberty of printing, reprinting, publishing and vending such... book or books for the term of fourteen years.” This law further required the following acts to transpire in order to secure the copyright, namely, (1) the title of the book must be deposited with the clerk of the District Court and the record he makes must be inserted on the first or second page, (2) public notice in the newspapers must be given, and (3) within six months after the publication of the book, a copy must be deposited in the Department of State. “These acts are absolutely essential to the title of the author.” ² RRPCI 3.3

The Act of April 29, 1802, ch. 36 (2 Stat. 171) added as a prerequisite to obtaining the benefits of the Act of 1790 the requirement that the information published in the newspapers “be inserted in full length in the title-page or in the page immediately following the title-page of every such book or books.” RRPCI 3.4

Under the Act of July 8, 1870, ch. 230 (16 Stat. 212), the subject matter of copyright was broadened, still included “any book” and the right was “granted for the term of twenty-eight years from the time of recording the title thereof.” This Act further provided that “if any person—without the consent of the proprietor of the copyright—sell or expose to sell any copy of such book, such offender is liable to ‘damages as may be recovered in a civil action.’” RRPCI 3.5

Under the Act of March 3, 1891, ch. 565 (26 Stat. 1106), the privileges of United States copyright law was for the first time extended to foreign authors or proprietors of books. RRPCI 3.6

Within the time span of this memorandum, Congress passed the Act of March 4, 1909, ch. 320 (35 Stat. 1075) which specifically “protect(s) all of the copyrightable component parts of the work copyrighted,” while specifically defining “no copyright shall subsist in the original text of any work which is in the public domain.” Specific mention is also made to the prohibition of importation into the United States “of any piratical copies” of books during the existence of a copyright therein. The Act of March 4, 1909 essentially codified existing law. RRPCI 3.7