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' 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.