Hall in London.  As the law is construed in England, an author who desires to secure British copyright by publication in Canada must comply with the Canadian requirements, one of which requirements is that the work must be printed here.  But if an American author prints his work in Canada, copyright is refused him at Ottawa.  He cannot, therefore, secure any protection whatever in Canada, unless he takes his work to England, publishes there contemporaneously with his publication in the United States, and registers at Stationers’ Hall in London.  If he were allowed after printing in Canada to register his copyright under the Canadian Act he would thereby acquire all the advantages of the Imperial Copyright Acts; but this is denied him.  He cannot secure any protection whatever under our local laws, nor can he even bring an action to prevent infringement of his rights until after he has registered his book at Stationers’ Hall in London.

The Canadian rights in any American book which is likely to have a considerable sale in Canada are quickly purchased by some Canadian publisher, and the book is published simultaneously with the publication in England and the United States.  Mr. Winston Churchill’s “Crisis,” and Miss Mary Johnston’s “Audrey,” are examples of such books.  If the English publication, with consequent delays, could be dispensed with and all the advantages of the British Copyright Acts could be acquired by printing and contemporaneous publishing in Canada, as they could be acquired were the bar against registration at Ottawa removed, a strong inducement would be offered to copyright American books in Canada.

The importation of American books in sheets into Canada is considerable, although it is yearly diminishing as our publishing facilities increase and trade grows.  The present duty of 20% is an obstacle to such importation, and if the facilities I have referred to were afforded in Canada to the American authors, and the present tedious delays occasioned by the necessity of obtaining British copyright removed, an end would be put to the importation in sheets of many books, and an effectual end in the case of more popular works of fiction, which have a sure market in Canada.

The principal difficulty which British authors and Canadian publishers had to contend with prior to 1891, was due to the proximity of the United States.  So long as the Canadian law remained in force which provided for the collection of the 12-1/2% duty for the benefit of British authors, the importation of cheap pirated editions of British works could not be prevented, unless the work was reproduced in Canada, and such reproduction was impossible chiefly owing to the limited market and unsettled copyright conditions in this country.