The Copyright Question: A Letter to the Toronto Board of Trade

The author addresses the Toronto Board of Trade to rebut a resolution calling for legislation that would require books to be printed and bound domestically to secure and retain national copyright. He outlines the existing imperial and international copyright framework—British statutes, Canadian registration, the Berne Convention, and U.S. reciprocity laws—and explains how these regimes determine protection and remedies. He recounts prior arrangements that permitted American reprints, their negative effects on local supply and authors' royalties, and corrects misconceptions about foreign consent to the proposed measure. He concludes that current legal arrangements already afford substantive protection and warns against adopting restrictive printing requirements.