Volume One

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The First Year of the Journal

We took a look at the first volume, six issues. What did we find?

Volume 1, Issue 1: June 1953

The first issue was 26 pages, printed with a grey cover and purple ink.

The first issue of the journal was published in June 1953. In this first volume, we see a bunch of legislative developments, including the U.S. Department of Air Force’s use of copyrighted materials (Air Force Regulation No. 5-21), with the same occurring at the U.S. Department of Defense.

The Office of Alien Custody, at the U.S. Department of Justice also put out a summary statement of jurisdiction and policies “with reference to literary, scientific, and artistic works of enemy origin.” This is 1953. World War II has been over less than ten years, and the confiscation of enemy German property is still an issue — and their exploitation, application for licenses, and use of royalties for payment of war claims. Insanely fascinating. We will see with Section 104A (an amendment in 1994 to the U.S. Copyright Act under URAA), the alien property will still be an issue (they are not restored.).

The Universal Copyright Convention! A U.S. delegate is in Geneva, and there is a report from the delegation listed. The U.S. Department of State also brought up to date their list of proclamations, treaties and conventions related to copyright. Remember, at this time, the U.S. is not party to any multilateral treaties, and so protection in the U.S. requires a country to have a proclamation or treaty with the U.S.

Judicial developments are interesting. A number of cases concern whether widows have the right of renewal under the 1909 Act. We also have state decisions included, because under the 1909 Act, there was no federal preemption yet, and also unpublished works were protected by the states, along with sound recordings, of course.

Across the pond, we have a British case about the use of a photograph of a cock fight to create a painting, and it was found that the painting did not infringe the photographer’s copyright. This is 1953. Seventy years later, we would have Andy Warhol, which would decide quite the opposite.

Under bibliography, we also see the publishing of World Copyright: The Protection of INtellectual and Industrial Property Throughout the World, a legal encyclopedia, Vol 1. This is the first of four volumes. (I have a copy of these, and they are brilliant as a time capsule!) In a Yale Law Review book review of the first volume, Ralph Brown notes that three new journals have also arisen: Unesco Copyright Bulletin, Bulletin of the Copyright Society of the USA (that’s us!), and Revue International du Droit d’Auteur. We also have a notice that the Copyright Bulletin from the UN has a devoted issue to the Universal Copyright Convention.

The issue also lists law review articles in other journals. What are people writing about? Summaries of copyright law, sound recordings, plagiarism and originality, publishing rights in tv, radio, film, and theater, taxes, ideas, moral rights, the manufacturing clause, the UCC, and copyright, and separability. There are also titles of foreign law review articles, and also copyright articles from trade magazines. All of these provide citations and a short descriptive paragraph. And in this first issue, there was a last minute executive order, June 10, 1053. You know what it is — the Universal Copyright Convention:

As the first issue of THE BULLETIN goes to press, President Eisenhower issued on June 10, 1953, Executive M. Executive M is a message from thePresident to the Senate, transmitting the copy of the Universal CopyrightConvention of 1952 for the purpose of receiving the advice and consent of the Senate with regard to ratification of the Convention. Attached to the President’s printed message is the report of Secretary of State Dulles, recommend-ing ratification of the Convention. We reprint here the concluding part from Secretary Dulles’ letter:

“Throughout the period of development of this convention, this Government has engaged in close and continuous consultation with the various United States Business and professional groups interested in copyright either directly or through the attorneys representing them in the copyright field. Various committees of the American Bar Association have had this work under continuous advisement. The United States delegation to the Geneva Conference included four leading private copyright attorneys as advisers. The delegation was also fortunate to have two congressional advisers from the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives.

Participation in the Universal Copyright Convention by the United States Will not only significantly improve the protection accorded to United States private interests abroad, but will make a substantial contribution to our general relations with other countries of the free world. Early action by the United States with respect to ratification of the convention will enable the United States to play a leading part in helping to improve international relations in this important field.

The first issue concluded with a poem by Ogden Nash entitled “A Poet’s Observation of Copyright. Calling Spring VII-MMMMC.” Yep. It was originally published in The New Yorker, and was reprinted with permission by the author. Check it out on page 26.

And so that’s the first issue. I can imagine the team putting it together, proofing it, and sending it to print. We’re doing the same thing, over 70 years later!

Volume 1, Issue 2: October 1953

We see countries around the world adopting the Berne Convention, including Belgium and Italy, along with the Pan American Convention. We really don’t always think of the significant copyright treaty movement that happens post World War II. But we have it documented here in action.

And the cases? Infringement of refrigeration catalogs, songs, advertisements, and duties on imported merchandise. A state case related to the same title on a comic book and a magazine, along with a motion picture synopsis, and plot, among other cases. Notably, a petition for cert was filed in Mazer v. Stein. Exciting, right?

We also find that there was a conference at University of Chicago Law School on Arts, Publishing and the Law. And law review topics?

Copyright Protection to Aliens and Stateless Persons
Ideas
Common-Law Copyright and its Limitations
The Universal Copyright Convention
Deposit requirement under Section 12 of the 1909 Act (That’s become a hot topic again, right?)
Losing Copyright Under Law of the US (statutory requirements; this is a Canadian publication)
Operas
Design Patents

And the last minute news this time, in October 1953? A symposium at UC Berkeley that includes “The right of privacy by electronic device.” Timely, right? A list of speakers are included in the announcement, along with other topics.

We also get an extract of the Report of the Copyright Examining Division. Let’s take a look!

“We have had our share of the odd and the unusual, ranging from some-thing old, in the form of a recipe for smelts, accompanied by an odoriferous exhibit, to the most modern, in the form of a baby H bomb formula and atomic fizz drinks.”

“Wall Street may have its hand on the economic pulse of the Nation,but the Examining Division has its hand on the literary pulse. The pulse seems stronger this year, with a 7 percent rise in copyright registrations (see Copyright Service Division summary). Biggest increase was in the field of music. But, while more people were bursting into song, some musicians and singers found need to express themselves in prose: Artie Shaw wrote “The Trouble with Cinderella” and Bing Crosby wrote “Call Me Lucky.” Greats in the other arts also turned to new media: Bette Davis and Rosalind Russell left Hollywood and went “legit,” furnishing not only some new music but lots of material for the drama critics, most of it copyrighted. This restlessness people were feeling in their familiar fields even found its way into the division’s own operations. The periodical examiners tried their hands at cataloging. Doing the two jobs simultaneously should prove economical as well as furnish a better product sooner.

“The most exciting question of the year was the one Reglor of California kept asking from coast to coast in a series of infringement actions: “Does a work of art cease to be a work of art when it becomes a lamp?” The U. S. Court of Appeals in both the Fourth and Ninth Circuits said “No” and it looks now as if Reglor can continue copyrighting its figurines as works of art, then sell them as lamp bases without losing copyright protection. By this time next year the Supreme Court may have answered the question. Although the year was filled with many reminders that crime does not pay, the division received its share of complaints from victims of literary pirates. Most surprising was the request from the Planning Commission of a New England State, unhappy about finding its scenery pictured on Chamber of Commerce blurbs for MiddleAtlantic and Western States. The Commission wanted to copyright the slogan Most Stolen State in the 48.'” (Abraham L. Kaminstein]

Volume 1, Issue 3 December 1953

The issue begins with a Federal Trade Commission case, In re Doubleday @ Co, F.T.C. DKT. 5897 related to exclusive licenses of publication rights to book clubs; an IRS amendment, related to the sale of ex-President Truman’s memoirs, and how the sale will be viewed. And my favorite, a new stamp at the Copyright Office to identify “unpublished works” when they are transferred to the Library of Congress.

And the cases? Toy cars in the public domain, competing travel tours, music renewal, labels, and plagiarism. State decisions included one related to “Archie” the comic and whether the form was protectable, infringement of composition and play by the film “Take me out to the Ball Game,” and contract issues.

There’s also a reference to a chart on duration of copyright protection, and the law of Radio and Motion Picture Rights. Most interesting is a review of the prefatory note for the new publication Revue Internationale du Droit D’Auteur, whose first issue had just been published in 1954. The publication still exists today! See https://rida-ca2.ideesculture.fr/. This was and continues to be a quarterly publication from Paris. It notes that Mazer v. Stein is being reviewed at the U.S. Supreme Court. And also the hope that the French journal and the Bulletin will hopefully be in “close cooperation.” “The officers of the Society and the editorial board desire to take this opportunity to congratulate the editors of Revue Internationale du DroitD’Auteur and to assure them of our equal desire for cooperation and mutual exchange of information in the copyright field.”

Volume 1, Issue 4 February 1954

So, what’s going on in the Winter of 1954? We still have the Army and Defense department putting out regulations related to copyright. We also have a French translation of the Japanese law that “extends the term of copyright protection for nations of the allied powers under the Treaty of Peace,” as reported in Le Droit d’Auteur, vo. 66, No. 12 (December 15, 1953). It seems like the Bulletin was getting a lot of its foreign law now from this publication. We see a reporting of the Copyright Office Regulations, with additions from 1953, and we see a military publication on “Use of Copyrighted Materials.” Monaco also now has copyright relations with the U.S.

The cases? A case about cut-out masks on Wheaties boxes, copyright infringement related to photoplay “The Harvey Girls,” and unauthorized prints of Grandma Moses. This last one is fascinating, as it addresses the question of common law copyright, since no statutory copyright was obtained.

One interesting Variety story is reported related to Rodgers and Hammerstein related to infringement, and that are considering bringing an infringement suit to make an example of “such offenders.” They get “around 100 copyright infringements a year…” Variety, vol 192, no. 11 (Nov. 18, 1953), pp. 71, 73.

Volume 1, Issue 5, April, 1954

The McCarran jukebox bill was being debated, as were hearings on the Universal Copyright Convention. And… the U.S. Supreme Court decision of Mazer v. Stein was delivered on March 8, 1954, affirming the Court of Appeals. The statuettes case! The New York Times reported that “65 Americans in literary, educational and communications fields” formed a national committee to encourage “Congressional ratification of the Universal Copyright Convention.” The Bulletin noted that a similar committee had been formed in 1880, and they reproduced the letter!!

Volume 1 Issue 6, June 1954

Well, “the Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously reported out to the Senate the Universal Copyright Convention with a favorable recommendation.” The implementing legislation was still with the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the House Judiciary Committee still also had to act on implementing legislation.This last issue of the first Volume also lists the agenda at a PLI/Copyright Society of the USA joint two-day summer program “in air-conditioned rooms.” What were the topics?

Abram L. Kaminstein, Chief, Examining Division, Copyright Office, opened the proceedings with “Dealing with the Copyright Office” for two hours: “problems in considering works of art, designs, and prints and labels; applications for titles, slogans, names, blank forms, ideas, plans, formats, and trade-marks.” Other topics were “Books, Magazines, Newspapers and Cartoons,” “Practical Problems in Advertising,” “Protection of Industrial Designs,” “Motion Picture Industry,” Radio and Television,” “How to Handle a Copyright Case,” “Legal Protection of Titles of Literary and Artistic Properties,” and “Protecting U.S. Copyrights Abroad.” Each includes a short description of the talks. Don’t you wish you could hear those talks?

—Elizabeth Townsend Gard