Transcriber’s Note
Italic text is denoted by _underscores_ in this transcription. Small
capitals text is displayed as ALLCAPS.
THE
LAW OF COPYRIGHT
THE LAW
OF
COPYRIGHT
BY
William Wordsworth
LONDON
PRINTED FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION
1916
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PREFATORY NOTE.
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The Copyright Act referred to by Wordsworth in the following document
was presented to the House of Commons for the first time on _April
18th, 1838_, the day upon which the poet addressed his open letter to
Serjeant Talfourd.
The letter appeared in _The Morning Post_ of _April 23rd, 1838_, and
had apparently escaped all notice until I chanced upon it recently when
searching a file of the paper for any stray writing of Wordsworth’s.[1]
Prefixed to the text of the letter was the following editorial comment:—
“_We feel very sincere pleasure in having been selected as the medium
for giving to the public Mr. Wordsworth’s sentiments concerning
Serjeant Talfourd’s proposed Bill for the amendment of the law of
copyright. It is a source of additional gratification to us that
the opinions of such a man as Mr. Wordsworth are so completely
in accordance with those we have already on several occasions
endeavoured to impress on the attention of our readers._”
When he applied himself to the composition of the present letter,
Wordsworth was for the second time employing his pen in support of
Talfourd’s Bill. An earlier letter, dated _April 12th, 1838_, addressed
to the Editor of _The Kendal Mercury_, had appeared in the columns of
that paper on _April 16th, 1838_, over the pseudonymous initials “A.
B.” This earlier letter is already well known, and is included in the
_Prose Works of William Wordsworth_, edited by William Knight, 1896,
Vol. ii, pp. 375–382. Its successor, now rescued from its obscurity in
a dusty file of an old newspaper, should henceforth find a place beside
it.
T. J. W.
_25, Heath Drive,_
_Hampstead, N.W._
——————————
[1] In view of the number of contributions made by Wordsworth to _The
Morning Post_ (among which _The Convict_, which brightened its pages
on December 14th, 1797, is by far the most important) it is curious to
recall the following statement which occurs in a letter addressed by
him to Daniel Stuart:—
“_I am quite certain that nothing of mine ever appeared in ‘The
Morning Post,’ except a very, very few sonnets upon political
subjects, and one poem called ‘The Farmer of Tilsbury Vale,’ but
whether this appeared in ‘The Morning Post’ or ‘The Courier,’ I do
not remember._” [The poem cited did appear in _The Morning
Post_ on July 21st, 1800.]
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THE LAW OF COPYRIGHT.
=====================================================
RYDAL MOUNT,
_April 18th, 1838_.
MY DEAR SIR,
A strong opposition, which has manifested itself by public meetings and
petitions to the House of Commons, having started up among printers,
publishers, and others to your Bill for amending the law of copyrights,
and no other like counter-movement being made by authors on their part,
it has been suggested to me, from quarters entitled to great respect,
that it might be of service if, along with a most distinguished
literary friend, I should present a petition to Parliament, praying
that the Bill may pass, or at least one in favour of its principle.
This compliment has no doubt been paid me as one among the oldest
of living writers, and one therefore whose heirs must, in course of
nature, be injured sooner than those of younger men, if the proposed
measure be rejected. You will not be surprised if I feel some scruple
in taking a step, though so well recommended, on account of an aversion
to appear prominently in any public question, and because I am loth
to think so unfavourably of Parliament as to deem that it requires
petitions from authors as a ground for granting them a privilege, the
justice of which is so obvious. I cannot bring myself to suppose
that the mere shadows of argument advanced by printers and publishers
against the claims of a class to whom they owe the respectability
of their condition, if not their very existence, should avail with
any intelligent and disinterested assembly. Yet further am I averse
thus to petition Parliament, because I would not ask as an individual
suppliant, or with a single associate, what in equity I consider to be
the _right_ of a class, and for a much longer period than that defined
in your Bill—for ever. Such right, as you have stated in your admirable
speech, was acknowledged by the common law of England; and let them who
have cried out so loudly against the extension of the term as is now
proposed show cause why that original right should not be restored. The
onus clearly rests with them to do so; but they have not attempted it,
and are glad to take shelter under the statute law as it now stands,
which is a composition or compromise between two opinions; the extreme
point of one being, that, by giving his thoughts to the world, an
author abandons all right to consider the vehicle as private property;
and of the other, that he has the right in perpetuity, that descends to
his heirs, and is transferable to those to whom he or they may assign
it.
This right I hold to be more deeply inherent in that species of
property than in any other, though I am aware that many persons,
perceiving wherein it differs from acquisitions made in trade and
commerce, &c., have contended that the law in respect to literature
ought to remain upon the same footing as that which regards the profits
of mechanical inventions and chemical discoveries; but that this is an
utter fallacy might easily be proved.
From the considerations above stated I decline to petition, as
suggested, and content myself, in the silence of others better entitled
to speak, with this public declaration of my judgment, so that at
least, my dear Sir, you may not be liable to be treated as a volunteer
intruding without wish or sanction openly expressed by any one of
the class whose rights and interests you have so much to your honour
stepped forward to maintain. Here this letter shall close, its purpose
being answered, for no general arguments from me, and no statement of
facts belonging to my own case, and which have come to my knowledge
with respect to my illustrious friends Coleridge, Scott, Southey, and
others, would avail to produce conviction where that has not been
effected by your unrivalled speech made upon your first introduction
of the Bill into the House of Commons, and by reasonings which have
lately been set forth with great ability by writers in the public
journals, who were more at liberty to enter into details than you could
be while treating the subject before Parliament.
Should your Bill be overborne, which I cannot allow myself to fear, by
the interested opposition now at work, justice, nevertheless, sooner or
later, must triumph; and at all events the respect and gratitude which
authors feel towards you and your coadjutors upon this occasion will be
cherished by them to the last hour of their lives.
I have the honour to be,
My dear Sir,
Faithfully yours,
WILLIAM WORDSWORTH.
_To_
SERJEANT TALFOURD, M.P.
LONDON:
Printed for THOMAS J. WISE, Hampstead, N.W.
_Edition limited to Thirty Copies._Project Gutenberg
The law of copyright
Wordsworth, William
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