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March 20, 1863.] THE PHOTOGRAPHIC NEWS. 135 and vice versa. As photography has grown into a branch of industry, and photographic copyrights are of considerable value, it may be useful to call attention to the existing state of the laws of England and of France affecting such copy rights. Formerly, when any work of literature or of the fine arts was first puUislced abroad, the copyright in it became public property in England. The author was unable to obtain any protection there in respect of such copyright. This manifest injustice has been remedied by certain Acts passed in the reign of Her present Majesty, “ to amend the law relating to international copyright.” These statutes enable the Crown, by order in Council, as respects works of literature, music, and art (to be defined in such order), and which shall be first published in any foreign country named in that order, to direct that the authors of such works, and their assigns, shall have the privilege of copyright therein to the same extent as allowed by law in respect of any such works first published in the United Kingdom. But no such order is to have any effect unless it states that due protection has been secured by the foreign power named in the order, for the benefit of parties interested in works first published in the British dominions similar to those comprised in such order. Besides this, as a condition precedent to the acquisi tion of any copyright in a work so first published abroad, the statutes render it imperative that the work shall be registered at Stationer's’ Hall, together with the date and place of first publication thereof abroad. The time within which such registration must be made after that first publi cation is to be fixed by the order in Council. In 1852 an International Copyright Treaty was entered into between England and France, whereby it was agreed that “ the authors of works of literature or of art, to which the laws of cither of the two countries do now, or may here after, give the right of property or copyright, shall be entitled to exercise that right in the territories of the other of such countries for the same term, and to the same extent, as the authors of works of the same nature, if first published in such other country, would therein be entitled to exercise such right.” But the treaty expressly stipulates that such international copyright shall not be claimable in either country, unless the work shall have been registered," viz.:— “1st. If the work be one that lias first appeared in France, it must be registered at the Hall of the Company of Sta tioners in London ; 2nd. If the work be one that has first appeared in the dominions of Her Britannic Majesty, it must be registered at the Bureau de la Librairie of the Minister of the Interior at Paris.” At the time of such registration “one copy of the best edition, or in the best state,” must also be deposited ; and “ in every case the formality of deposit and registration must be fulfilled within three months after the first publication of the work in the other country." The treaty likewise provides that “ a certified copy of the entry in the register-book of the Company of Stationers in London shall confer within the British dominions the exclusive right of republication until a better right shall have been established by any other party before a court of justice ; ” and that “ the certificate given under the laws of France proving the registration of any work in that country shall be valid for the same purpose throughout the territories of France.” The charge for registration of a single work “shall not exceed one shilling in England, nor one franc twenty-five centimes in France ; and the further charge for a certificate of such registration shall not exceed the sum of five shillings in England, and six francs and twenty-five centimes in France.” The ten years’ term for which this treaty was entered into has expired, but it provides that it shall continue in force “from year to year until the expiration of a year’s notice from cither party for its termination ”—an event which in the present advanced state of public opinion respecting international rights generally, and copyright particularly, appears to bo most improbable. In pursuance of this treaty, and of the powers vested in the Crown for that purpose, Her Majesty after-wards made an order in Council, whereby it was ordered “ that from and after the 17th day of January, 1852, the authors, inventors, designers, engravers, and makers of any of the following works (that is to say), books, prints, articles of sculpture, dramatic works, musical compositions, and any other works of literature and the fine arts, in which the laws of Great Britain give to British subjects the privilege of copyright, and the executors, &c., of such authors, &c., shall, as respects works first published within the dominions of France after the 17th January, 1852, have the privilege of copyright threin for a period equal to the term of copyright which authors, &c., of the like works respectively first published in the United Kingdom are by law entitled to ; provided such books, dramatic pieces, musical compositions, prints, articles of sculpture, or other works of art have been registered, and copies thereof have been delivered according to the require ments of the International Copyright Act (7 Viet. c. 12 s. 6) within three months after the first publication thereof in any part of the French dominions.” Soon after entering into the above convention the French law was placed upon what seems to us, having regard to the existing state of the law of nations, to be the only just, and, consequently, tenable ground respecting international copy right. Irrespective of any reciprocity, a decree was made upon the 28th March, 1852, prohibiting within the domi nions of France the piracy of works published in any foreign State, and also the importation or exportation of any pirated copies of such works. Now, with respect to copyright in photographs, no such copyright existed according to the law of England prior to the 29th July, 18G2, when “ The Copyright (Works of Art) Act” came into operation. Since that date the authors of original photographs, or the employers of such authors, are entitled to copyright therein for the author's life and seven years after his death; but to acquire the benefits of that statute, the work must be registered at Stationers’ Hall. So likewise, according to the decisions of the French Courts, no copyright in photographs has until recently been held to exist in France. According to the Code Napoleon, “ L’auteur d’un ouvrage de litterature ou de gravure, ou de toute autre production de I’esprit ou de genie qui appartien- nent aux beaux-arts, en aura la propriety exclusive”—or copyright, during the life of such author, also of his widow, and for thirty years after the death of the survivor of them in favour of their children. Does u. photograph come within the above definition of the French law relating to works of fine art ? Some of the most eminent French artists have protested against the art of photography being deemed a fine art; and until within the last few months it seems that the French Courts were of the same opinion. But the decisions upon the point have recently “been overruled by the supreme court of appeal in France, the Court of Cassation, in a case which arose out of the piracy of a photographic portrait of the late Count Cavour. It was held that although a mere servile copy of any subject made by means of photography is not absolutely a work of art within the meaning of the Code, yet that a photograph does become a work of art, and is the subject of copyright, when its execution includes artistic conception upon the part of the author. Practically, therefore, British photographic artists will now be enabled to obtain the benefits of copyright in France for most of their original works. If claimed under the Copy right Convention with France, to which we have alluded, it will, however, be subject to the performance of these con ditions : 1st. The work must have been first published in the United Kingdom. 2nd. It must have been registered, and a copy deposited, in Paris, within three months after such first publication. Upon the other hand, it seems French photographic artists may now secure a British International Copyright in cdl their original photographs upon these conditions :—1st. The work must have been first published in France. 2nd. It