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in gathering together a representative collection of compositions of the younger composers of the United States for publication in Volume V of the Boletin Latino-Americano de Música, a non-profit enterprise, no disagreement was encountered with the terms of the project, which ignored possible business opportunities. Some composers invited to contribute did not do so. Perhaps their non-cooperation was grounded in a feeling that a business agreement should have been made. But no one broached the subject.

During the last year, however, I forwarded a request to a United States composer for a composition to be played at a non-commercial, officially sponsored concert in another Republic. There was also a possibility that the work would be broadcast over the government radio of that Republic. The composer refused, rather indignantly, asking: was not such-and-such a publisher known to have published the work, and was it not sufficiently known that such-and-such an agency collected his performance fees? In reply I advanced the usual arguments that we were still in the "promotional phase" respecting works of composers of the American Republics outside their own country, and that for a while yet we could not expect even commercial or semi-commercial enterprises, much less non-profit official ventures, to find cash for such purposes. But to no avail. I then conferred with the collecting agency. There the situation was more flexible. The thesis was advanced, however—and it is an interesting one-that the time has come when we should begin to think in terms of at least token payments—say, one dollarper performance of a work in a foreign. country where regular commercial handling of business is either not in order or else not feasible. Perhaps I should make clear that I repeat the suggestion here only for the sake of discussion.

In a radio broadcast to the composers of

the Americas on St. Cecilia's Day, November 22, 1944, I urged them: (1) to join national rights societies; (2) to amalgamate competing societies; (3) to see to it that all societies are controlled democratically by composers; (4) to form such societies where there are none; (5) to work toward an inter-American federation of composers' rights societies. I also urged them to follow with interest the proposed International Congress of such societies called by the Federación Interamericana de Sociedades de Autores y Compositores (FISAC) which met at Habana in January 1945. Had I known more definitely, at the time, of the proposal of certain societies in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay to hold an international congress later in the coming year, I should have urged watchful interest in that also.

It may seem like putting the cart before the horse to talk about collection of performance fees before saying something of the copyright problem. This latter, it is true, underlies the former. But the former is a newer one, admitting a degree of flexibility in arrangement of a temporary modus vivendi, whereas the latter is so deeply embedded in codified law, international relations and complicated routine procedures, that nothing short of a major operation can be expected to cope with it. Plans for the major operation are well advanced. Soon after these NOTES are published the date will probably be known on which the Pan American Union will call an Inter-American Conference of Experts on the Protection of Intellectual Property. A third draft of a convention to supersede the Buenos Aires Convention of 1910 has now been in circulation for some time and will be presented at the Conference for discussion.

Before passing to consideration of the copyright problem it might be well to point up two phenomena which bear upon both problems under discussion here. First, copy

right in Latin America is usually held by the composer, whether the work is printed or in manuscript, whereas in Anglo-America it is usually held by the publisher, if printed, and by the composer, if in manuscript (except in some special cases where a manuscript is placed in a publisher's rental service). Second, collection of rights tends to be made in Latin America by genuine societies of composers, whereas in the United States it is made by one publisher-composer group, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), and by a number of strictly commercial agencies. The American Composers' Alliance, an organization of about two hundred composers not otherwise affiliated, has to collect through a commercial agency.

Perhaps an idea of the present confusion can be gained from the following facts selected at random. The largest body of agreement is under the Buenos Aires Convention on Literary and Artistic Copyright of 1910, the parties to which are Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the United States of America and Uruguay-only two-thirds the total number of Republics. Argentina has entered into treaties on copyright relations with only six of the other American Republics, Mexico with four, Venezuela and Bolivia with three, Cuba with one, and so on.

Brazil has no copyright relations with Argentina, Bolivia, Cuba, Mexico or Venezuela. The United States has no copyright relations with Bolivia or Venezuela, and so on.. . A few years ago it was desired to secure utmost copyright protection for Gone with the Wind in all of the American Republics. Eight were considered sufficient. It cost many thousands of dollars and one year's time. Each country's regulations. are different, some require legal services and all, in case of a foreign work, make employ

ment of a legal expert highly advisable.

Basic information on the copyright situation in the New World is best obtained from: Copyright Protection in the Americas under National Legislation and Inter-American Treaties. Law and treaty series no. 16. Juridical division, Pan American Union, Washington, D. C. April, 1943.

The situation in the United States is worthy of brief review at this point, not only because it illustrates some of the complexities of the general state of affairs but because from this country comes by far the largest production of music works of all kinds and here, too, publication of music from the other Republics is becoming substantial. Hundreds of Latin American works, from scores of symphonies and chamber music to rumbas and cuecas, have been published here. On the other hand, publication of North American music lags on the rest of the continent. It is to the interest of Latin American composers, therefore, to know something of the copyright protection available in the United States as well as something of the hazards they may encounter in this country. Not all points at issue can be covered here. Quotations are from the work above cited and should not be understood to be offered as a substitute for competent legal advice.

COMMON LAW.-"As long as an unpublished work remains uncopyrighted, it is protected, like other personal property, under general principles of the common law, but if protection is claimed under the Copyright Law, the common law right is held to have been abandoned."

COPYRIGHT LAW OF 1909 AND AMENDMENTS THERETO. "In the case of published works, or works reproduced for sale or public distribution, a copyright may be" applied for "by publishing the work with the required notice of copyright affixed to each copy. The form of copyright notice for ... musical compositions, is 'Copyright... (year of publication), by . . . (name of claimant) and it must appear on the title page or page immediately following." Two complete

copies of the work for which application is made must be deposited with The Register of Copyright, Library of Congress, Washington, D. C., or, "if the work in question is by a foreign author and is published abroad, one complete copy suffices." The fee in the first case is $2, in the latter, $1, and should be paid with reasonable promptness, or else a penalty may be exacted. Application, deposit, and payment of fee are not guarantee of protection. These are. however, prerequisite to securing protection, in case of infringement, through legal processes. The term of copyright is 28 years with renewal upon application for another term of like duration.

PRESIDENTIAL PROCLAMATION.-Latin American composers may apply for protection offered to citizens under the Copyright Law: (1), when domiciled in the United States at the time of publication or (2), when the Republic of which they are citizens grants to citizens of the United States benefit of copyright substantially the same as to its own citizens, in which case the author only, not a proprietor, must qualify. Such reciprocal relations (though varying slightly) have been proclaimed by the President to exist with Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, and Mexico. "A citizen of a so-called 'proclaimed' country is merely entitled to obtain copyright under the United States Copyright Act. This means that he must comply with all formalities required of citizens of the United States, including, of course, the requirement of American manufacture," if the work is in English.

"A requirement of the United States law which is frequently overlooked by foreigners printing abroad is the necessity of printing a notice of reservation of copyright on their works. This is absolutely necessary, and without it the work will not be accepted for registration in the United States. The only exception allowed by the Act is the case of publications for which ad

interim protection is sought, pending future printing in the United States."

EXISTING TREATIES.-The United States maintains copyright relations with El Salvador under the Convention of Mexico, 1902. Under the Convention of Buenos Aires, 1910, it maintains such relations with the fourteen countries already listed. The statements "Es propiedad", "Derechos reservados", "Propiedad Registrada" and others are effective under this Treaty.

Of course, a high ethic among composers and publishers is the ultimate aim. It is a pleasure to be able to record substantial improvement in this respect. A number of instances have come to our knowledge of United States publishers signing contracts with citizens of other Republics even though the work to be published was entirely unprotected by any copyright whatsoever and lying in the "public domain." In this connection it is interesting to note that selfinterest alone is causing more and more music executives in the United States to avoid public domain material for publication, radio or phonograph. It is turning out to be more businesslike and to save a lot of time and trouble to pay a "fair" fee for the use of material rather than risk litigation, whether successful or unsuccessful. The job for the composer and his friends now is to see that the fair fee is fair from his viewpoint as well as from the businessman's. And it is here that his professional organization can make him strong enough to claim it and receive it.

Pan American Union NOTES

THE GOVERNING BOARD

Reply to the request of the

Argentine government

AT its regular meeting on January 8, 1945 the Governing Board of the Pan American Union considered the replies received from the American governments to the note sent on October 27, 1944 by the Embassy of Argentina to the Chairman of the Board requesting in the name of the Argentine government a meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs.1 After consideration of the matter, the Governing Board approved the following motion:

In view of the fact that the American nations cooperating in the war effort have agreed through diplomatic channels to hold a conference within the near future to study urgent war and postwar problems, and that the said Conference will offer an opportunity to the representatives of the said nations to consider the request presented by the Argentine Government,

The Governing Board of the Pan American Union abstains for the time being from acting on the Argentine request.

Two days later the Argentine Chargé d'Affaires addressed the following note to the Chairman of the Governing Board:

EMBASSY OF THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC
Washington, January 10, 1945

MR. CHAIRMAN:

I have the honor to inform Your Excellency that so long as Argentine rights continue to be disregarded and so long as the procedure of consultation continues to be altered, as they were in the opinion of my Government by the resolu

1 See BULLETIN OF THE PAN AMERICAN UNION, January 1945.

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The Board considered the matter of the appointment of the Inter-American Demographic Committee provided for in a resolution adopted by the First Inter-American Demographic Congress. Since this resolution. provides that the seven governments of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican. Republic, Mexico, Peru, and the United States should appoint the first seven members of the Committee, and that as soon as they are named the other American governments should each have the right to appoint a member, the special committee of the Board entrusted with the consideration of the matter recommended, with the approval of the Board, that the Director General of the Pan American Union be authorized to communicate with the above-mentioned governments relative to obtaining the names of the members of the Committee. It was also voted that as soon as the members had been chosen, the Government of Mexico should be asked to set the date for the first meeting.

Inter-American Technical Economic
Conference

In view of the possibility that before March 15, 1945, the date which had been fixed for the meeting in Washington of the InterAmerican Technical Economic Conference, other inter-American or international conferences may be called, the Board, on the recom

mendation of the Executive Committee on Postwar Problems, voted to postpone until June 15, 1945 the date of this Conference and authorized the Director General of the Pan American Union on behalf of the Governing Board to invite the governments of the American Republics and inter-American organizations interested in economic problems to send representatives.

The Americas and the War

TO KEEP the readers of the BULLETIN informed of the various measures dealing with the war and its effects taken by the American Republics since the United States was attacked by Japan on December 7, 1941, a continuing list is being compiled of laws, decrees, acts, orders, and resolutions pub. lished in official gazettes or noted in other publications received at the Pan American Union. While it is attempted to make each monthly installment of the compilation as complete as possible, it is inevitable that some measures should be omitted, because of uncertain mails, delay in receiving recent official papers, and other difficulties.

When a reference stands by itself in parentheses, it is the official source for an item for which an unofficial source was previously given. In order to preserve the numbering of the measures mentioned in the preceding issues, items listed in this number whose dates fall between those of measures already published are inserted with letters following the number.

The official gazettes of the Latin American countries are as follows: Argentina, Boletín Oficial; Brazil, Diário Oficial; Chile, Diario Oficial; Colombia, Diario Oficial; Costa Rica, Gaceta Oficial; Cuba, Gaceta Oficial; Dominican Republic, Gaceta Oficial; El Salvador, Diario Oficial; Ecuador, Registro Oficial; Guatemala, Diario de Centro América; Haiti, Le Moniteur; Honduras, La Gaceta; Mexico, Diario Oficial; Nicaragua, La Gaceta; Panama, Gaceta Oficial; Paraguay, Gaceta Oficial; Peru, El Peruano; Uruguay, Diario Oficial; and Venezuela, Gaceta Oficial.

No items are given for the United States except under Bilateral and Multilateral Measures.

The list was begun in the April 1942 number of the BULLETIN, and omissions wil! be supplied as information is received from official or other sources. When notice of a measure has been taken from an unofficial account, the official source will be given as soon as it is available.

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