COPYRIGHT, the exclusive right of prop erty in any intellectual production; the protec tion afforded by the law for a limited number of years to the originator of any written or printed composition or work of art, or to his heirs and assigns, whereby persons unauthorized are prevented from multiplying and selling copies, or, in case of dramatic works, from representing them on the stage. Such rights were claimed by authors before the introduction of printing. After the invention of the printing press, the right to publish books became the subject of licenses and patents. In Chambers' 'Domestic Annals of Scotland,) under date of 9 Nov. 1699, may be seen a warrant of the Privy Council authorizing George Mossman, stationer in Edinburgh, -"to print and sell the works of Mr. Georgs Buchanan, in one volume in folio, or by parts in lesser vol umes, end forbidding all others to print, import, or sell the whole or any part of the said Mr. George Buchanan's works in any volume or character, for the space of to years." Similar privileges were granted in England; but all such monopolies were regarded with suspicion by common lawyers. The common law affords a certain measure of protection to works unpublished or published only for a limited pur pose. The writer of a letter, for example, trans fers his in it to the receiver ; but the receiver has no right to print it for sale or dis tribution without the writer's consent. The copyright in published works is the creation of statute; the first copyright act was passed in 1709; and by virtue of its provisions authors acquired the sole liberty of printing their books during a term of 14 years from first publication, and, if the author should be living at the end of that time, during a further term of 14 years.
While this act was in force, Thomson sold the copyright of his poems to Millar, a London bookseller. Millar claimed the right to prevent the issue of reprints by Donaldson (of Edin burgh) and others, even after the statutory term had expired, on the ground that an author had, at common law, the sole right of printing his works. Out of this dispute arose the famous cases of Millar v. Taylor, and Donaldson v. Beckett, which led to a remarkable difference of opinion among the judges. The House of Lords decided that if any common-law right existed it had been taken away by statute.
At the union with Ireland, the copyright act was extended to that country, and the trade in cheap editions printed in Dublin and secretly imported into Great Britain came to an end. In 1814 the term of copyright was extended to 28 years, and the residue of the author's life if he were living at the end of the term. The impetus given to literature at the beginning of the 19th century, and especially the popularity attained by the works of Scott and Byron, greatly increased the market value of copy right, and ultimately led to further legislation in the interest of authors and publishers. The basis of the existing law is the copyright act of 1842, commonly known as Talfourd's Act, or Lord Mahon's Act. Macaulay's speech in the friouse of Commons on the second reading of this measure is one of his most successful parliamentary efforts. In Great Britain the tertn of copyright in a book is 42 years, or the life of tfie author and seven years, which ever of the two terms is the longer. No copy right can be enjoyed in seditious or immoral publications, or in books first published out of the United ICingdom. Articles contributed to encyclopdias and periodicals and books pub lished in parts or series belong to the proprietor ; but he may not publish them separately without the writer's consent, and after 28 years the copy right reverts to the author. Dramas and mu sical pieces, if first published in book-form, are subject to the same rules as books; but if they are performed in public before appearing in print the author retains the sole right of permit ting them to be presented during the term of copyright; and this right is distinct from the copyright he acquires if his drama or piece is published as a book. By an act of 1882 the proprietor of a piece of music, desiring to re serve the right of performance, must give notice to that effect on the cover. Verses may not be taken from a copyright work and set to music for sale, without permission. A novel may be dramatized without the author's permission.; but if copies of the drama are published containing passages borrowed in substance from the novel, the author of the adaptation is liable to an ac tion. The right to dramatize can be exercised only with precautions which must greatly re strict it in practice.