Hi. Copyright rules from that period are outside of my expertise. (And that of most people's, even in copyrightland. ;-) ) The big book of US copyright, which does cover some of this historical stuff, is by Melville & David Nimmer- but you may have to hunt around for it in a law school library. http://bookstore.lexis.com/bookstore/product/10441.html My understanding is that _articles_ weren't usually thought of as under copyright back in those days. (MT rewrote his materials from the form they had appeared in journals for book publication, yes?) Today we would call them something more like "a work made for hire." I.e., I write it, you pay me, and you publish it in the newspaper/journal. End of transaction. If that guess is close to right, then Daddy Grant or Bonner or somebody _may_ have been trying to preserve what they hoped would turn into book rights on their text. DDD ________________________________ From: Arianne [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Saturday, April 05, 2008 2:13 AM To: David Davis; Mark Twain Forum Subject: Re: FW: Copyright question Many thanks, David. Does anyone have an opinion (or knowledge!) whether there would be any consequences if someone didn't reespect this primitive version of the copyright? What could Bonner have been trying to protect? Reproduction of the article? Dana co-authored a biography of Grant which drew from the articles for information about Grant's youth, apparently the only source available. Wondering, Arianne. On Fri, Apr 4, 2008 at 2:43 PM, David Davis <[log in to unmask]> wrote: Hi. I did ask around, and it appears that, for that early date (the Copyright Office was not taking registrations yet) an author could, in effect, "timestamp" there work at a courthouse. It sounds like that is what is happening there. Essentially, "Entered in the Clerk's Office" was that era's equivalent of copyright registration. Does that help? DDD On Wed, Apr 2, 2008 at 2:08 PM, David Davis <[log in to unmask]> wrote: Hi. I don't know, but I will ask around and let you know if I find anything out! My understanding (which may be wrong) is that copyright was not normally accorded to articles appearing only in the newspapers in those days. What are the exact words around - "...registered with the district..." (Can you give me the whole sentence?) DDD ________________________________ From: Arianne [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2008 4:51 PM To: Mark Twain Forum Subject: Copyright question Dear Mr. Davis, Do you, or does anyone have knowledge about the reality of copyright protection back in 1868? Robert Bonner of The Ledger in New York commissioned Jesse Grant to write articles about his son, Ulysses. At the bottom of the first column he recorded that they'd been registered with a district something. Am I correct in assuming this was an effort to copyright the articles? (He did not add that protection to articles by Greely or H.W. Beecher.) And if so, what would infringe upon the copyright? Would there be consequences? Charles Dana of the SUN published the Ledger Grant articles in his paper BEFORE they appeared in the Ledger! Would this have any legal implications in those days? All this is significant to me in connection with an issue involving Twain. THANKS for any opinions or help, Arianne Laidlaw