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Report of François Hell to the National Assembly, Paris (1791)
Source: Bibliothèque nationale de France : LE29-1208
Citation:
Report of François Hell to the National Assembly, Paris (1791), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org
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4
M. Valmont de Bomare has spent forty years on
the composition, & the Messrs Bruyset, nearly 500,000
livres on the printing of this work.
The whole fortune of the author & the printers
is merged in this new edition.
Now that the time has come to collect the fruits
of their long & expensive labours, men who did not sow,
who did not carry any burden, who did not make any
expenses, are going to take away these fruits from them.
They have presented their complaint to you; you
have returned it to the Committee of Agriculture & Trade,
which thought it necessary to consult with the
Constitutional Committee; it sent M. Meynier Salinelles,
its President, & me there as Commissionaires. The matter
having been examined there & discussed, I was charged
with presenting the report to you.
If respect for properties is one of the principal
foundations of our sacred constitution; if the productions
of the genius are, of all properties, the most sacred, the
law has to protect them & and avenge them against all
violations.
This law is dictated by nature, & it is prejudged by
the Declaration of Rights (1); but, as it is not positively
written in your code, there
________________________________________________
(1) This law cannot be the same one as the one on theatre
plays; the Assembly considered that it had to limit the
property in the latter because it thought that the double
revenue [accruing] from publication & performance needed to
be set a limit. The example of the English cannot outweigh
eternal justice.
No Transcription available.
Source: Bibliothèque nationale de France : LE29-1208
Citation:
Report of François Hell to the National Assembly, Paris (1791), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org
Back | Record | Images | Commentaries: [1]
Translation only | Transcription only | Show all | Bundled images as pdf
M. Valmont de Bomare has spent forty years on
the composition, & the Messrs Bruyset, nearly 500,000
livres on the printing of this work.
The whole fortune of the author & the printers
is merged in this new edition.
Now that the time has come to collect the fruits
of their long & expensive labours, men who did not sow,
who did not carry any burden, who did not make any
expenses, are going to take away these fruits from them.
They have presented their complaint to you; you
have returned it to the Committee of Agriculture & Trade,
which thought it necessary to consult with the
Constitutional Committee; it sent M. Meynier Salinelles,
its President, & me there as Commissionaires. The matter
having been examined there & discussed, I was charged
with presenting the report to you.
If respect for properties is one of the principal
foundations of our sacred constitution; if the productions
of the genius are, of all properties, the most sacred, the
law has to protect them & and avenge them against all
violations.
This law is dictated by nature, & it is prejudged by
the Declaration of Rights (1); but, as it is not positively
written in your code, there
________________________________________________
(1) This law cannot be the same one as the one on theatre
plays; the Assembly considered that it had to limit the
property in the latter because it thought that the double
revenue [accruing] from publication & performance needed to
be set a limit. The example of the English cannot outweigh
eternal justice.
No Transcription available.