In 1875, the Canadian Parliament passed an Act giving copyright for twenty-eight years from the date of recording, to any author of a book domiciled in Canada or in any part of the British dominions or being the citizen of any country having an International Copyright Treaty with the United Kingdom.  To secure such copyright the Act provides that the book must be printed and published, or reprinted and republished in Canada, whether so published for the first time or contemporaneously with or subsequently to the publication elsewhere.  This Act was reserved by the Governor General.  In the same year an Imperial Statute was passed empowering Her Majesty in Council to assent to the reserved Act.  On the 26th of October, 1875, the Royal assent was given to take effect from the 11th of December following.  Just as United States Copyright Legislation requires production in that country so the Canadian Act of 1875 provides, as pointed out above, that to obtain Canadian copyright for a literary work it must be produced in Canada.

The Canadian authorities have steadily declined to permit the registration of copyright under the Canadian Copyright Act to citizens of the United States, the ground of objection being, that the enactment of the Congress of the United States and the President’s proclamation of July 1st, 1891, extending the benefits of the Chace Bill to all British subjects, did not constitute “an International Copyright Treaty” within the meaning of the Canadian Copyright Act, which provides, as pointed out above, that any person domiciled in Canada or any part of the British possessions, or being a citizen of any country having an International Copyright Treaty with the United Kingdom, who is an author of any book, etc., shall have the sole right of printing, publishing, etc., for a number of years on certain conditions.  This is a narrow construction of the Canadian Act, and savours somewhat of smartness and sharp practice.  I believe it is not a fair construction and is certainly not in accord with the spirit and manifest intention of the Act.  I am not alone in entertaining this opinion which still remains to be tested.

In February, 1897, the United States Government proposed the negotiation of a Copyright Convention which would expressly meet this allegation of the Canadian Government.  This proposal the Canadian Government declined to entertain.

Far greater liberality in copyright matters is shown in the United States to Canadian authors, than is shown in Canada to American authors.  A Canadian author can secure copyright in the United States if he prints his work in that country, and publishes contemporaneously with the publication in Canada.  An American author parting with his rights for Canada to a Canadian publisher who may print an edition in Canada, cannot, as the law is interpreted at Ottawa, secure any protection in the Canadian market until after the book has been registered at Stationers’