Treloar Copyright Bill
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The Treloar Copyright Bill was a revision of the copyright laws introduced Feb. 13, 1896 in the first session of the 54th Congress as House of Representatives (H.R.) Bill No. 5976 by Missouri 9th District Representative William M. Treloar, and then extensively revised. Later reintroduced as H.R. 8211.
The bill incorporated two other pending bills (which were ultimately passed on their own) to create a register of copyrights (called a commissioner in the Treloar Bill), and to expand protections for public performance of copyrighted works, including music for the first time. The bill would have also extended the term of copyright 12 years, from 24 years and a 14 year extension (48 years) to 40 years and a 20 year extension (60 years) and extended the manufacturing clause of the 1891 International Copyright Act to include most items excluded in 1891, including music, maps, et al.
The bill was subject to extensive criticism in the press, especially for extending the manufacturing clause, and was strongly opposed by the authors and publishers copyright leagues. It never made it out of the House Committee on Patents.
[edit] References
Zvi S. Rosen, The Twilight of the Opera Pirates: A Prehistory of the Right of Public Performance for Musical Compositions, 24 Cardozo Arts & Ent. L. J. 1157 (2007) (The third section deals with the entire history of the bill).
