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Principles adopted by the Royal Academy of Sciences on Literary and Artistic Property, Amsterdam (1862)

Source: Verslagen en mededeelingen der Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen Afdeeling Letterkunde, 1862, pp. 345-359; Bijzondere Collecties, Universiteitsbibliotheek van Amsterdam, UBM V.V. 65-1862

Citation:
Principles adopted by the Royal Academy of Sciences on Literary and Artistic Property, Amsterdam (1862), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org

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            Chapter 1 Page 4 of 15 total

(348)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
ACCOMPANYING THE
POINTS AND PRINCIPLES REGARDING THE
LITERARY AND ART PROPERTY.

The weighty question, to what extent and for how long the fruits of the mind or the products of the wit, are the property of he who has produced them, in recent times has been a subject to attentive consideration in all civilized countries, and has provoked lively interest. Two main regimes, directly opposing each other, are brought up: according to the one, anyone who has expressed his thoughts in audible sounds or visible signs, has the right to freely decide about the revealed concepts, and only the question whether, in the public interest, provisions could, and should, be set to restrict the duration of that right, can prove useful; according to the other, the products of the mind or of the wit remain the property of their owner only for as long as he keeps them to himself; but they fall within the public domain as soon as he has publicized them once.
In the deliberations, to which the "bill

    

(348)

MEMORIE VAN TOELICHTING
BEHOORENDE BY DE
PUNTEN EN GRONDSTELLINGEN BETREFFENDE DEN
LETTERKUNDIGEN EN KUNSTEIGENDOM.

De gewichtige vraag, in hoe verre en hoelang de vruchten van den geest of de gewrochten van het vernuft het eigendom zijn van hem die ze heeft voortgebracht, heeft in den laatsten tijd in alle beschaafde landen een onderwerp uitgemaakt van aandachtige overweging, en levendige belangstelling verwekt. Twee hoofdstelsels, lijnrecht tegen elkander strijdende, zijn daarby ter sprake gebracht: volgends het eene heeft ieder, die zijn gedachten in hoorbare klanken of zichtbare teekenen heeft uitgedrukt, het recht om over de geopenbaarde denkbeelden vrijelijk te beschikken en kan alleen de vraag te pas komen of, in het belang van het algemeen, bepalingen kunnen en behooren gesteld te worden om den duur van dat recht te beperken; volgends het andere blijven de voortbrengselen van den geest of van het vernuft slechts zoolang het eigendom van hunnen auteur als hy ze voor zich houdt; maar vallen die, zoodra hy ze eens waereldkundig heeft gemaakt, onder het publiek domein.
By de beraadslagingen, waartoe het "ontwerp eener wet

    

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