James Clark McReynolds

“ Any other construction runs counter to the policy of the copyright law and rewards disobedience to plain statutory provisions.
Only compelling language could justify the conclusion that Congress intended to abandon a statutory policy-in effect since 1790-which required owners of patent or copyright monopolies to disclose upon the public records the extent of their claimed monopolies. Under the prevailing judgment here, public deposit and public registration are no longer necessary in order to obtain rights under the copyright law. ”

“ To permit recovery here protects the copyright owner's statutory privilege of monopoly, but emasculates the statutory provisions designed-for over a century and a half-to protect the public.
The judgment here rests upon the conclusions: (1) that the statute grants a copyright from the date of first publication with notice; (2) that after deposits are made the statute permits a retroactive recovery for public use of an article of which copies were never promptly deposited as required by the statute; (3) that Section 13 provides an exclusive penalty for failure to make the deposit ”

“ Notwithstanding this disobedience, petitioner is here permitted to collect damages under the statute, even for alleged infringement committed in the fourteen month period during which the statute's express command was continuously disregarded by petitioner. This century and a half old statutory requirement for public deposit of a copyrighted article provided a public record for the public's benefit. It imposes a simple and easily performed duty-not burdensome in any respect-in return for a twenty-eight year monopoly, with right of renewal for twenty-eight more years. ”

“ Congress did not intend to enshroud copyright monopolies in such secrecy. See Sections 16, 23, 55, 62, 17 U.S.C.A. §§ 16, 23, 55, 62. If disobedience of the statutory requirement is to be rewarded, the reward should certainly be limited-as the Court of Appeals held-so that a deposit which does not comply with the law could not be given retroactive operation permitting recovery of damages for public use during the period of disobedience. ”

“ They carried forward and emphasized once more the dual statutory purpose to require deposits for the use of the Library, and to preserve for the public the historic and wise policy that the ownership, nature and extent of private monopolies granted by government should always be spread upon government records open for public inspection. ”

“ Section 4956 of the Revised Statutes (1878) required deposit of one copy of the title before publication and two copies of the work after publication. Deposit has served as an integral part of every legislative plan to give the public full information of copyright monopolies. These plans have included deposits, registration, notice on the copyrighted article itself and full publication in newspapers. Deposit, registration and notice on the article-which every prior copyright Act required-are specifically provided for in the 1909 Act. ”