US Copyright Office: ar-1948

8/14/2019 US Copyright Office: ar-1948

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THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESSCOPY IGHT OFFICE

FIFTY-FIRST ANNUAL REPORTOF THE

REGISTER OF COPYRIGHTSFOR THE FISCAL YEAR

EN D I N G J U N E 301948 -7

UNITED STAT&GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 1949


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CONTENTS......................rganization of the Office and Revision of Procedurca

VolumeofWork ..................................................................... 1IncreasesinCopyrightFcol ........................................................... 2Catalog of Copyright Entries.......................................................... 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .egistration and Deposit of Works of Art 3.................................................utstanding Copyright Cases, 194748 3. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .egistrationbySubjectMattm,1946-48 5CopyrightDemtJ. 1 9 4 6 4 .......................................................... 6........................................................ross Receipts. etc.. 1897-1948 7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ummaryofCopyrightBusiness. 1948 9Schedule of Copyright Fcol ........................................................... 10Publications........................................................................ 11


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The Copyright OfficeREPORT TO THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS BY THE REGISTER OF COPYRIGHTS

SR: The copyright business and thework of the Copyright Office for thefiscal year July 1, 1947, to June 30,1948, inclusive, are summarized as follows:Fiscal year 1948 was notable for the

Copyright Office. The reorganization intofour divisions, which started nearly threeyears ago, was completed. Procedureswere revised and work so organized thatcurrency in operations was achieved forthe first time since the dislocations oc-casioned by the war. A bill increasingthe fees for the various services performedby the Office was enacted by Congress.The format and contents of the Catalog ofCowight Entries was radically changed tomake it more serviceable. The policy ofconsulting the users of the Office wasfurther extended and developed. Atten-tion was given to the definition of a workof art , and as a result, changes w e n madein the requirements for registration ofthree-dimensional works of art, and finally,a number of significant court decisionsoccurred which affected Copyright. Totalregistrations amounted to 238,121 (a 3percent increase over fiscal 1947); articlesdeposited numbered 364,567 (a corre-sponding increase); 217,911 of these weretransfmed to thk Library; 3,170 werereturned to claimants, and the remainderwere placed in the reserve collections of theoffice. Fees totalled $525,510.25 (an in-crease over 1947 by 11 percent).

1945, was completed, with the reiult that11 independent sections were convertedinto four divisions: the Examining Divi-sion, which reviews all applications forcopyright registration; the CatalogingDivision, which catalogs all works de-posited for copyright, giving l l le r treat-ment to certain categories, particularlycertain of the materials added to the Li-brary's collections; the Reference Divisionwhich conducts searches of the records ofthe Copyright Office and answers inquiriesfrom the public concerning matters ofcopyright; and the Service Division, whichreceives and dispatches mail, records allmoneys received, and .maintains the filesof the Office. IVolume o f Work

The great increase in the work-load ofthe Office (amounting to 41 percent in thepast five years) made it impossible to con-tinue operations as formerly. Work notconsidered absolutely essential and notrequired by law had to be eliminated, andall possible short cuts in operations wereadopted. Bibliographical searches w e nrefused when considered not necessary forthe protection of copyright interests of theinquirer. The information contained inthe Catalog of Copyright Entrics was in someclasses reduced, and semiannual andannual volumes were substituted formonthly issues. (The increased appro-priations for fiscal 1949 will, however,Organization of tfze OBce and Revision maLe it pwible to more adquateo f Procedures and prompt service to the public.)

The reorganization of the Copyright These economies are reflected in theOffice, initiated near the end of fiscal year production of the various units for the1


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2 REPORT OF THE REGISTER OF COPYRIGHTS, 1948year. The Cataloging Division, for ex-ample, entered the year with a massivebacklog of 32,824 registrations. Facedwith this arrearage and the rising numberof registrations, the Division was alsocompelled to undertake a drastic curtail-ment i? staff, involving the loss of 18%positions (20 percent of the authorizedforce of 89). To meet this situation, theDivision gave immediate attention to thedevelopment of procedures which wouldenable it to achieve and maintain cur-rency. Accordingly, a 3-day work-loadwas established as the "on hand" figure torepresent currency of primary catalogingoperations, calculated to be in the rangeof 2,400 to 3,000 registrations. By therearrangement of processes and the con-solidation of certain operations, thoughthe revision of cataloging standards in-volving the omission of certain data, andfinally by a concerted effort on the partof the staff, currency was reached for thefirst time on November 28, 1947. Theyear ended with the lowest "on hand"figure (1 I 24 registration) ever obtainedwithin recent years. With a staff of 42,the Examining Division reviewed the238,121 registrations received. Among theproblems connected with registration inwhich the Division participated in studieswith the Head Attorney were: three-dimensional works of art, television pro-grams, the effect of a more liberal rule inregistering arrangements of musical com-positions, and the possible registration ofunpublished manuscripts. Th e Refer-ence Division, with 10 employees, re-sponded to 10,204 search requests (asagainst 9,855 in 1947). Limitations ofstaff made it impossible to comply withall requests for searches. Bibliographicsearches for attorneys and heirs seekingcomplete record of deceased authors'copyright works in the settlement of estatescould not be undertaken; ordinarysearches have been a month in arrears;

and no investigations have been made ofcurrent publications to ascertain whethercopyright is claimed without registrationhaving been made. The Service Divisionprocessed and dispatched 250,148 out-going pieces of mail and filed a total of605,817 cards in indexes in the Office,in addition to handling the fees received.Increases in Copyrt'ght Fees

In connection with the Library's esti-mates for fiscal 1948, the House Appro-priations Committee pointed out that thefees for copyright registrations were "woe-fully inadequate to cover present-day costs.They are badly in need of revision." Inline with this view, the Chairman of theLegislative Subcommittee on Appropria-tions (Mr. Johnson, of Indiana) introduceda bill on January 13, 1948, providing foran increase in registration fees. This billbecame law on April 27, 1948, and thenew scale of fees, listed at the conclusionof this account, became effective t h idays later, on May 27, 1948.Publications of the Copyright O#ce

The Catalog of Cowight Entries, begin-ning with the calendar year 1947, has beenissued in a new series and an enlargedformat. This change is part of the pro-gram begun in 1946 to increase and extendthe usefulness of the compilation. Th eseveral classes of registrations are sepa-rated to make it possible to supply informa-tion of value to particular groups, such asthose interested in music, motion pictures,drama or art. As a result, the Catalog nowappears in 12 parts, numbered in accord-ance with the classes of material describedby the Copyright Act, instead of in 6 arbi-trarily numbered parts, as was formerlythe case. Each part of the Catalog isissued semiannually with the exception of14-A, Renewal Registrations o Literature,Art and Film, which is an annual volumefor 1947, and part 2, Periodicals, which is a


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- -PREPO RT O F TH E REG I STER OF COPYRIGHTS, 1948---. -7 3biennial volume covering the years 1946and 1947. The new three-column formatwas adopted to permit the use of largerand more readable type. Changes informs of entries were made in certainc~asses n the interest of speed of operationand increased usefulness, and procedureswere extended for the preparation of copyfor the Catalog by use of a mounted-cardtechnique, which makes use, as the print-er's copy, of an original entry in card form.These changes have made possible a sub-stantial saving in catalog production costs.

Sixteen issues of catalog parts of theCatalog of Copyright Entries were publishedin fiscal 1948.

option contained in the statute of sendingfor deposit the article of art itself.Outstanding Copyfight Cases

The outstanding court decision of theyear, as far as the copyright law is con-cerned, is Wodehouse v. Commissioner, 166F. 2d 986 (4 C. C. A., 1948), in which theCourt of Appeals for the Fourth Circuitflatly disagreed with the Court of Appealsfor the Second Circuit on an almost iden-tical set of facts, concerning the divisibil-ity of copyright. In the present case, thecourt held that the sale of serial rights in acopyrighted novel does not amount to alicense, but constitutes the sale of personalproperty. The court pointed out theRegistration and Deposit o f worksf "undeniable fact that xrial righr~boakArt rights, dramatic production rights and

For many years it had been the practiceof the Copyright Office to accept withoutquestion any statue or painting offeredfor copyright registration, but in deter-mining whether to accept other "works ofart," the Office has not always followed auniform policy. In some instances it con-sidered the individual case on its merits,in attempting to determine whether theparticular object constituted a work of art.This last year, the Office reconsidered thequestion of what constitutes a work of ar twithin the meaning of the Copyright Act,with the result that it has broadened thelist of articles which are accepted. It willnot only continue to accept all works offine art without question, but will alsoregister other works of art if they displayartistic features, whether or not, like bookends, ash trays, artistic ewelry, enamels, orsilverware, they have utilitarian purposes.At the same time the Code o Federal Regula-tions was amended to require that depositsfor registration of three-dimensional worksof art be accompanied by photographs inorder to identify them without the neces-sity of retaining the work of art itself,although the registrant also retains- the

motion-picture rights of a literary produc-tion are property rights which may be andare separately and effectively bought andsold in the literary market," and that thereis nothing "inherent in the nature of acopyright which renders impossible theseparate sales of the several parts whichcomprise the whole." Until this decision,the courts had rather consistently main-tained that copyright was an indivisiblebundle of rights. The Supreme Court willhave an opportunity to consider this im-portant question, since a writ of certiorarihas been applied for.

In the case of Edward B. Marks M&Corp. v. Foullon, 77 U. S. P. Q. 502 (D . C.S. D. N. Y., 1948), the court, in denyingplaintiffs action for infringement, advancdthe novel concept that the right of mechan- .ical reproduction under the compulso~licensing provision of the law includes theright to make a version and arrangementof the musical composition involved. In 'overruling the contention that the copy-.right owner possesses the exclusive right tomake a version and arrangement, the courtpointed out that while this may be so forthe purposes of printing, reprinting, etc., it'


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4 REPORT OF THE REGLBTER OF COPYRIGHTS, 1948is not applicable to phonograph records.

In a further proceeding in a case men-tioned in the Annual Report for last year,Shapiro, Bernstein &3 Co., Inc. V. Jerry VogeelMusic Co., 73 F. Supp. 165 (D. C. S. D.N. Y., 1947), the court held tha t onecoauthor of a song is accountable to theother coauthor for their, or either of their,qansactions. The New York SupremeCourt adopted the same view in JerryVogel Musk Co. v. Miller Music Co., 75U. S. P. Q. 205 (N. Y. Sup. Ct., App.Div., 1947). This view is contrary to thatfollowed in patent cases, and these twocases in effect overruled the only priordecision holding that the patent analogywas'valid in copyright cases.

The case of Vargas v. Esquire, 164 F. 2d522 (7 C. C. A., 1947), is of interestbecause of the plaintiffs contention thathe possessed a "moral right" in his draw-ings even after his work contract expired,and that the court should accordinglyenjoin publication of the drawings unlesshis name was a&ed thereto, in order toprotect his honor and integrity. The courtdismissed this contention, pointing outthat while such doctrine prevailed in manyforeign countries following the civil law,it did not exist in our law.

In Johnston v. Twentieth Century-Fox, 187Pac. 2d 474 (Cal. Dist. Ct. App., 1947),the court found that the title of the book"Queen of the Flat Tops" had a secondarymeaning, and, in affirming that copyrightprotection in a book did not extend to thetitle thereof, upheld the author's propertyright in that title, arising from his intel-lectual labor in its creation. In anothercase involving common-law propertyrights, Chamberlain v. Feldman, 76 U. S.P. Q. 203 (N. Y. Sup. Ct., Spec. Term,1948), the legal representatives of MarkTwain attempted to restrain publicationof a newly discovered Mark Twain manu-script by the person having possession ofthe manuscript. They were unsuccesJful

because of a failure to show any facts aboutthe original disposition of the manuscript,and the court presumed that under suchcircumstances the transfer was legal andcarried with it all rights, including that ofpublication.

The rather unusual situation of anAmerican court, in an action involvinginfringement of a United States copyright,incidentally interpreting the copyrightlaw of Great Britain, arose in Khan v. LeoFeist, Im., 165 F. 2d 1888 (2 C. C. A.,1947), where the court held that a writtenassignment of the song "Rum and Coca-Cola," coniirming an oral assignmentmade two years earlier, was sufficient com-pliance with the British law requiring thatan assignment be in writing.

Two points of interest arose in AlfrdBell &3 Co. v. Catalda Fine Arts, Inc. 74 F.Supp. 973@. C. S. D. N. Y., 1947). Half-tone reproductions of mezzotint engrav-ings were carried in the catalog of a printproducer and also in that of the Guild ofwhich it was a member. Although nocopyright notice appeared in either publi-cation, and notwithstanding that bothcatalogs were widely circulated, the courtheld that there was no abandonment ofcopyright, since it was ccobvious" hat thecirculation was solely for "advertising pur-poses." Th e second point concerned theholding that the price-fixing and restraint-of-trade practices engaged in by the copy-right owner, in violation of the antitrustlaws, was no defense to the infringementaction, the remedy under the antitrust lawsbeing exclusive.

A notable example of a remedy underthe antitrust laws is found in the case ofU.S. v. Paramount Pictures, 334 U. S. 131(1948), where the Supreme Court upheldthe action of the United States in seekinginjunctions and other relief against motionpicture producers and exhibitors for prac-tices violative of the antitrust laws. Thecourt'held the following practices, among


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REPORT OF THE REGISTER OF COPYRIGHTS. 1948 5others. to be illegal: provisions in licenses the practice of "block.booking". i. e., thefor the exhibition of copyrighted motion refusal to license one or more copyrightedpictures fixing the prices to be charged; motion pictures unless another is accepted.provisions in licenses permitting a theater Tables showing the volume of work andcircuit to allocate the playing time and film the new fee follow.rentals of copyrighted motion pictures; and

REGLSTRATlON BY SUBJECX MATTER CLASSES FOR THE FISCAL YEARS I946 TO 1948. MCLUSIVBClass

A

BCDEFGHIJKKKLMRRR

1946

7. 67930. 5545. 504

43. 7373. 513

61047. 86048.289

1. 1295. 35663. 3671. 3043. 0943171. 7771. 7527. 9755. 384

7741. 250

3312. 483

202. 144

Subject matter of copyright

Boob:(a) Printed in the United States:Books proper.'. ...............................Pamphlets. leaflets. etc ................................ontributions to newspapers and periodic&

Total....................................(b) Printed abroad in a foreign language..............(c) English books registered for ad interim copyright . . . ......................................otal ..................................eriodicah (Numbers) .............................ectures. sermons. addressee

Dramatic or dramatico-musical compositions.................................................usical compositionsMapa..........................................................................orks of art,models. or designs...........................eproductions of works of ar tDrawings or plastic works of a scientific or technical character ...........................................hotographs ............................ommercial prints and labels ..........................rints and pictorial illustrations..............................otion picture photoplays ..........................otion picturee not photoplays .................enewals of commercial prints and labels.............................enewalsofallotherclaescs...........................................otal

1947

9. 903. 4. 9404. 400

49. 2433. 970

71253. 92558. 340

9726. 45668. 7091. 7794. 044. 5402. 1471. 8389. 6746. 506

6661. 41821

13. 180230. 215

1948

9. 78635. 7975. 963

51. 5462. 545

68354. 77459. 699

1. 2636. 128

72. 3391. 4563 9383091. 6191. 844

10. 6196. 686

63299920

15. 796C238. 121


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6 REP ORT O F THE REGISTER O F COPYRIGHTS. 1948NUMBER O F ARTIC~ES EPOSITED DURING THE FISCAL YEARS I946 TO 1948. INCLUSIVE

I I I IC l u Subject matter of copyright 1 1946 1 1947 1 1948

I Books: ::(a) Printed in the United States:

BCDEFGHIJKK

and KLM

Boob proper................................ 15. 358Pamphlets. leaflets. etc....................... 61. 108Contributions to newspapers and periodicals..... 5. 504

Total .................................................b) Printed abroad in a foreign language(c) English books registered for ad interim copyright..........................................otal

Periodicak...............................................................................ectures,.sehone, etc .............ramatic or dramatico-musical compositions.M~sicalcompositiona ..................................M a p................................................\V ~r ks f art, models or designs....................................................eproductioy of works of artDrawings or plastic works of a scientific or technical character!~

.......................................tiotographs! ,I . .Prints, labels; and pictorial illustratione............... ...Motion pictute photoplays.............................. 1. 545 1. 312 1.254t i c e s ot p h o t o p ......................... 2. 440 1 2. 741 1 I. 914

.. . .....................................Total !. ., 305. 049 354. 856 364. 567I I I


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REPORT OF THE REGISTER OF COPYRIGHTS, 1948 7GROSS RECEIPTS, ETC., SINCE JULY 1, 1897

Since July 1 , 1897, the date of organization of the Copyright Office, the total registrations have been7,255,883 and the total receipts for fees, $9,870,212.90. The figures, year by year, appear in the follow-ing table:STATEMENT OF GROSS CASH RECEIPTS, YEARLY PEES, NUMBER OF REGISTRATIONS, ETC., FOR 51 FISCAL YEARS

I I I

Year Number of Increase in Decrease inGras yziH:~aregistratiom ( registrations 1 registrations


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8 REPORT OF THE REGISTER OF COPYRIGHTS, 1948STATEblENT OF GROSS CASH RECEIPTS, YEARLY FEES, NUMBER OF REOLSTRATIONS, ETC., FOR 51 HSCAL

YEAM-continued

Yearly feuapplied

162,544.90166,909.55178,307.20184,727.60195,167.65308,993.80327,629.90309,414.30280,964.90250,995.30251,591.50259,881.70285,206.90280,541.40298,799.60306,764.40320,082.90347,430.60351,158.10306,836.70319,466.30338,812.90379,738.00442,626.10487,475.20

9,870,2 12.90

1923-24. .........................924-25.. .............925-26.1926-27.. .........................927-28.1928-29. .............1929-30. .............1930-31.. ........................931-32..1932-33.. ........................93334. ..............934-35. .............935-36. .............936-37. ............937-38.. .............938-39. .............939-40.1940-41.. .........................941-42.1942-43. ..........................9 4 3 4 4 .1944-45. .............1945-46. .............1946-47. .........................947-48..

Total.. ........

167,705.98173,971.95185,038.29191,375.16201,054.49322,135.82336,980.75312,865.41284,719.20254,754.69258,829.53269,348.81293,149.82295,313.24326,326.67330,466.37341,061.35347,125.35376,906.63324,300.99333,270.24367,402.04405,740.58471,119.41525,510.25

10,333,823.91

Decrease in~ghtrati0IM

Numba ofregistrations

Increase inregistrations

162,694 13,748165,848 3,154177,635 11,787184,000 6,365193,914 9,914161,959 ...........172,792 10,833164,642 ............151,735 ............137,424 ............139,047 1,623142,031 2,984156,962 14,931154,424 ............166,248 11,824173, 1.35 6,887176,997 3,862180,647 3,6501 85 232 1,585160,789 ............169,269 8,480178,848 9,579202,144 23,296230,215 28,071238,121 7,906


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REPORT OF THE REGISTER OF COPYRIGHTS. 1948 9SUMMARY OF COPYRIGHT BUSINESS. FISCAL YEAR I948

BalanceonhandJulyl. 1947 ................................................... 106.961.00Gross receipts July 1. 1947 to June 30.1948 ....................................... 525.510.25

......otal to be accounted for ........................................... 632471.25Refunded ........................................................ $28.251.26Checks returned unpaid ........................................... 496:00Deposited as earned fees........................................... 466.354.60. . . . .Balance carried over to July 1. 1948:

Fees earned in June 1948 but not deposited until July. ...........................................948 $58.243.70Unfinished business balance........................ 16.848.49Deposit accounts balance.......................... 62.277.20 .

137,369.39

Registrations for prints and labels.............................. 10. 619 at $6.00Registrations for published works.............................. 8. 814 at $4.00136. 131 at $2.00Registrations for published photographa without certificates.....I... 449 at $1.00~egistrationor unpublished works............................. 2. 246 at $4.00

64. 046 at $1.00....................egistrations for renewals of prints and labels 20 at $6.00Registrations for renewals. al l other classes...................... 14. 897 at $1.00899 at $2.00

Total number of registrations............................... 238. 121Fees for registrations............................................................ 461.526.00Fees for recording 5. 234 assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.926.00Fees for indexing transfera of proprietorship. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.839.70Fees for certified documents ........................................ 2.027.00Fees for notices of usu recorded .................................... 886.50Fees for searches made ............................................ 4.270.00 25,949.20

Total fees earned........................................................... 487.475.20

Documents

US Copyright Office: ar-1948