3.Sculpture

proposed to be given to the proprietors of future copyright arising under the new act.

It was further proposed to enact that any engraved print, made for the painter thereof, being also the proprietor, shall have copyright for the same term as the bill proposed to grant to authors of books, namely, sixty years; that a print from any picture, not previously engraved, made by an engraver with written licence from the painter, being also the proprietor, shall have the same term, and any future licence be void; and so of a picture, not before engraved with consent of the proprietor, which shall hereafter be engraved with such consent, together with that of the painter (if he be living.) And finally, the same term was given to the engraver of any print of original design.

It was also provided, that the copyright in the print from a picture belonging to a public institution should be in the first engraver thereof; all persons being at liberty to make and publish other engravings from such picture.

The provisions for registration at Stationers' Hall, were the same as those proposed for books; two copies of every engraved print being deposited, one to be kept at Stationers' Hall, the other at the British Museum.

The remedy proposed to be given for piracy, or for importation of piratical copies, was an action on the case for damages, as in the case of books.

But still there was no provision for that essential feature in all real protection, a cheap and simple process before a competent and accessible tribunal.

This, however, being the want not of the engraver alone, but also of the sculptor, and the manufacturer, will be treated of more at large presently.

It has been seen that the defective protection of works of SCULPTURE arises as well from the want of clearness

and comprehensiveness in the terms of the subsisting statutes, as from the inadequacy of the remedies which they profess to afford. The first step towards improve- i. Consoliment is carefully to revise these statutes, and consolidate dation of them into one law; the next is to establish a cheap ii.Registra and uniform system of registration.

With reference to the present period of protection for works of this class, I am not aware that there is any complaint of its insufficiency for practical purposes, were it made real. But, not unnaturally, the absolute uselessness of any law uncombined with that cheap and competent tribunal so repeatedly insisted upon, would seem to have diverted attention from this part of the subject.

the law.

tion.

But, regarded in all its results, the want of protection for the various kinds of DESIGNS or PATTERNS applied 4. Patterns. to manufactures, appears to be the most hurtful of all; and, as might have been expected, it is in this department that the dishonest and unprincipled have taken most advantage of the defective state of the law. Το copy another man's design of a piece of silk or lace is even more easy than to mould from another man's bust, and is often much more profitable, as we have already had occasion to perceive.

The witnesses examined by the Commons' Committee on Arts and Manufactures agree, for the most part, in stating that the essential requisites of any efficient system of protection for this class of designs are fourfold:

protection.

1. A period of protection, varying according to the i. Period of nature of the design, and of the fabric in which it is to be executed: e. g. a period of six months may be sufficient for simple designs in printed cottons; but not less than twelve months will adequately protect designs in silks; and some designs of a splendid and expensive cha- Arts' Evid. I. Gibson, racter in bronze and iron will require three years, one

387.

of which may perhaps wholly expire before the design

Arts' Evid. is fairly known to the public. (Of course the maximum II. Smith, of the varying period should be strictly defined.)

145. ii.Registra

tion.

2. A method of double registration, i.e. of registraEvidence of tion both local and central. It must be cheap and manufactu- easily accessible, and the protection must be contingent on the registration.

artists and

rers pas

sim.

iii. Collec

terns regis

3. A general collection of models and specimens of all tion of pat- such new designs and fabrics as shall be registered for protection; as well for preserving them to the public, when the legal term shall have expired, as for facility of reference to prevent unknowing piracy.

tered.

Ibid.

iv. Local tribunals.

Ibid.

Law of France as to Copyright in patterns.

Lawof1826 establish

de Prud'

And 4. Local tribunals in the chief manufacturing towns, composed of persons competently acquainted with the manufactures of the place, and vested with power to decide summarily, under the statute, in all cases of piracy or disputed copyright in patterns.

That there will be difficulties in framing a measure, which shall comprehend all these requisites, and not go too far, is certain; but the task is not therefore to be neglected and the subject is one of such paramount importance, that it will well repay the labour bestowed. It may be of use to ascertain what light is thrown upon it by experience in other countries.

The penal code of France enacts that the infringer (contrefaiteur) of any pattern, registered as copyright, shall pay a fine of not less than 100 francs, nor more than 2000, and that all printed designs and fabrics, together with all the plates, moulds, and matrices, shall be confiscated; and it also enacts, that a fine of not less than 25 francs, nor more than 500, shall be levied on any person who sells an article so pirated.

By a law passed in 1826 copyright in patterns is ing Conseil secured for one year, three years, five years, or in perhommes at petuity, at the option of the manufacturer, to be declared at the time of registration. And it is required. that manufacturer desirous of securing his copy

Lyons.

i. Period of protection.

any

tion.

right shall deposit his pattern under an envelope, bearing his seal and signature, at the office of the Conseil de Prud'hommes of the district. This packet is sealed with the seal of the council, a register is kept of all ii.Registraclaims, and the manufacturer receives a certificate bearing the date of the delivery of his pattern. In case of any dispute respecting the copyright, the register of the council is held to be decisive evidence of priority of date. The fee to be paid to the receiver of the com- Fees. mune, on depositing the pattern, is fixed by the council, but must in no case exceed one franc yearly, during the period for which the copyright is secured. The fee for a perpetual copyright is ten francs. The fee for a certificate of registration is three francs.

Manufacturers of hardware and cutlery, and some others, are authorized to employ a device or 'mark,' and on registering that mark (as with patterns), they obtain an exclusive title to its use. Any one who surreptitiously employs or imitates the mark of another is held to be a forger, and in addition to the penalties of fine and confiscation, is subject to those which attach to other kinds of forgery, as of writing.

tion.

On the expiry of the term of copyright, the law requires that the pattern shall be delivered to the Conservatoire des Arts, to be added to its general collec- iii. CollecThis collection is stated by Dr. Bowring (who tion of pathas done so much to place our amicable relations with foreign countries on that best of all foundations-an accurate knowledge of each other,) to afford "a very

It is curious to remark that in the bill recently introduced by Mr. Mackinnon to amend the law relating to letters patent, there was a provision for affording protection to patents at the rate of ten pounds per patent, per annum, in addition to fees and law costs. So different are the notions of protection on either side the Channel. In France the law offers premiums and encouragement to the artist, the man of letters, and the manufacturer; ours offers them also-but only to the lawyer.

terns, &c.

Arts' Evid. striking history of the progress of manufacture:" he is speaking of the Conservatory of Lyons.

II. 54.

iv. Remedy. Local tribunals;

tribunals of

The first duty of the Conseil de Prud'hommes is, as we have seen, the recognition and registration of the (with ap- copyright; the next is the prompt protection of it by a peal to the certain and summary process, if it happen to be incommerce.) fringed upon. This council is the sole judge of the fact of infringement, and decrees the penalty (within the limitation prescribed by law), on conviction of the offender. The fee for summoning any party to the tribunal is one franc twenty-five centimes; and for pronouncing a judgment two francs. The Court grants a witness compensation for one day's labour, and all costs are paid by the losing party. The same courts have jurisdiction in all cases of patents (if the patentees choose to apply to them), and in all disputes between masters and workmen; and their sittings are public.

How formed.

Dr. Bow

Evid.II.58.

In the organization of these tribunals much depends on local circumstances, and especially on the peculiar demands of the manufactures predominating in the district. The number of persons composing them varies from ten to twenty-four or twenty-five; and these are chosen from amongst the manufacturers and their workmen themselves, a part retiring every year by rotation. The manufacturing portion is chosen by all the manufacturers paying for licences; the workmen (taking the silk manufacturers of Lyons, for example,) from amongst those possessing a certain number of looms, &c. It must be remembered that these tribunals have (as has been observed) jurisdiction in all cases between masters and workmen, as well as those between manufacturers.

In towns where there are several manufactures, the ring, Arts' statute organizing the tribunal provides that it shall contain so many members connected with each important trade. At Saint Etienne, for instance, where there is a large manufacture of silk ribands, and also