,936 1899 86,492

Total, 30 years, 1,079,445

It will readily be seen that this great number of copyrights does not
represent books alone. Many thousands of entries are daily and weekly
periodicals claiming copyright protection, in which case they are
required by law to make entry of every separate issue. These include a
multitude of journals, literary, political, scientific, religious,
pictorial, technical, commercial, agricultural, sporting, dramatic, etc.,
among which are a number in foreign languages. These entries also embrace
all the leading monthly and quarterly magazines and reviews, with many
devoted to specialties--as metaphysics, sociology, law, theology, art,
finance, education, and the arts and sciences generally. Another large
class of copyright entries (and the largest next to books and
periodicals) is musical compositions, numbering recently some 20,000
publications yearly. Much of this property is valuable, and it is nearly
all protected by entry of copyright, coming from all parts of the Union.
There is also a large and constantly increasing number of works of
graphic art, comprising engravings, photographs, photogravures, chromos,
lithographs, etchings, prints, and drawings, for which copyright is
entered. The steady accumulation of hundreds of thousands of these
various pictorial illustrations will enable the government at no distant
day, without a dollar of expense, to make an exhibit of the progress of
the arts of design in America, which will be highly interesting and
instructive. An art gallery of ample dimensions for this purpose is
provided in the new National Library building.

It remains to consider briefly the principles and practice of what is
known as international copyright.

Perhaps there is no argument for copyright at all in the productions of
the intellect which is not good for its extension to all countries. The
basis of copyright is that all useful labor is worthy of a recompense;
but since all human thought when put into material or merchantable form
becomes, in a certain sense, public property, the laws of all countries
recognize and protect the original owners, or their assigns to whom they
may convey the right, in an exclusive privilege for limited terms only.
Literary property therefore is not a natural right, but a conventional
one. The author's right to his manuscript is, indeed, absolute, and the
law will protect him in it as fully as it will