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Royal Order on Dramatic Copyright , Madrid (1837)
Source: Archivo Histórico Nacional; AHN, Consejos, 11404, Exp. 026
Citation:
Royal Order on Dramatic Copyright , Madrid (1837), 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
5 translated pages
Chapter 1 Page 1
STAMP 4 THE YEAR
40 M. of 1837.
Madame,
When on 20 November 1833
Your Majesty issued a decree creating
a Commission to propose what
could be convenient regarding the rights
of dramatic writers, the establishment of
drama schools, laws that deal with the
author's profession, and, in general, the
policing of spectacles; You clearly
declared your Royal Will to be convinced
of the decadence in which these important
areas are currently found, as the theatre is,
according to the same decree, an
element of civilization that is linked
with the prosperity of many
industries, Your Majesty wished
a complete legislative project
where all the stimuli that could
be given to an art that You wished
to favour were gathered and that would
compile the best improvements
that could be done in relation
to this area of the administrative service.
For causes that it is
Chapter 1 Page 2
not worth while to specify, the results of
such benevolent intentions had
stopped and the work of the
Commission had not produced
the effect expected. Although
the lack of this law was felt in all
the areas embraced by the said
decree, there are nevertheless some
in which public opinion or necessity
have influenced favourably, facilitating
substantial improvements. However.
there is one area, that of the rights of
dramatic writers, which is totally ignored,
and bear the burden of the greatest
impunity; when, according to the regulation
of free press currently in force, they had
to be guaranteed. All dramatic
productions staged in any theatre or printed
and even those that have not yet
been represented or printed, are
quickly reproduced in the rest of the
theatres in the Peninsula without
prior authorisation, without the
knowledge of the author and sometimes
against his will. The consequences of
this practice are not only the deprivation
of their property, taking away the just
profit that for their work they should
be expecting, but also they constitute
the reason why dramatic works
Chapter 1 Page 3
are represented disfigured and full
of mutilations either because of errors
in the copies provided or because of
the ignorance of the actors, or the
lack of guidance that the author
could communicate to them, provoking
an incalculable harm to the writers who
dedicate themselves to write for the theatre
and the violation of rights of property,
guaranteed by our institutions and the
institutions of all civilized countries.
Therefore
We beseech Your Majesty to issue a
decree in which it is ordered that literary
property is to be respected in all its parts,
and thereby ordering that in no theatre
in the Peninsula may any dramatic
production be represented without the
author's prior consent and an agreement
that could secure him a compensation for
his rights, and also prohibiting that the
fact that play is already printed could serve
as an excuse to contravene this general
rule.
Madrid 4 February 1837
Madame
A.L.R.P. de V.M.
Manuel Breton Gretorio Romero
de los Herreros Larrañaga
Antonio Garcia Gutierrez
Juan Eugenio Eugenio de Ochoa
Hartzenbusch
Chapter 1 Page 4
Section 4
Circular
The complaints that several writers submitted to the august Queen in a
report dated on 4 February referring to the violation of the right of literary
property regarding dramatic works, have specifically caught the attention
of Her Majesty. The 24th and 26th laws of the Book 8th, 16th title of the
Novisima recopilacion guarantee and protect this property in general.
However the spirit of ignorance and preoccupation that, eager to
kill any source of enligthenment and life for the community,
consider the theatre with a patronising tendency as no more than a necessary
indulgence and treated it with distain and constantly disputed the application
of the aforementioned laws in favour of the dramatic art, an element of
civilization to which the prosperity of many industries is attached.
That is the reason why the right of property of the dramatic writers is
still ignored. The works represented in any theatre are frequently
reproduced in the rest of theatres in the Peninsula,* without prior
authorisation and knowledge of his author and even sometimes against
his will. This abuse does not only deprive writers from their property,
diminishing their just product of their labour but it is also the reason
why their works are represented defigured and counterfeited because of the lack
of fidelity in the copies furtively provided.
Informed Her Majesty of the need to stop this abuse,
She has decided for the Ministry under my charge to draft a bill that
declares, defines and assures the corresponding rights of literary property taking
into account all its peculiarities in order to submit it for deliberation by the
Cortes (Parliament).
But Her Majesty, who is pleased by the extraordinary flight that the Spanish
drama has taken in this era of freedom, that seems
Chapter 1 Page 5
to promise for the reign of her august Daughter a new Golden
Age of national poetry, is equally aware that the damages suffered by
writers require a more urgent solution, and in order to provide for it,
She has furthermore decided in a provisional manner while the
said bill is yet to be discussed, approved and sanctioned, that dramatic works
as with all property, are placed under the immediate protection of the
authorities, and because these productions have a special nature with
two different realities, one in the theatre and another in the press, it
will not be possible hereinafter to represent a dramatic work in any
theatre, even when it is in print, or have been represented in another
or others without [the prior] consent of its author or owner.
By royal order I communicate Your Excellency for you to give the
adequate publicity to this resolution of Her Majesty and to ensure its
exact compliance. May God be with you for many years.
Madrid 5 May 1837
Translation by: José Bellido based on a previous translation by Lisa Surwillo (University of Toronto Press, 2007) pp. 155-160
Source: Archivo Histórico Nacional; AHN, Consejos, 11404, Exp. 026
Citation:
Royal Order on Dramatic Copyright , Madrid (1837), 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
5 translated pages
Chapter 1 Page 1
STAMP 4 THE YEAR
40 M. of 1837.
Madame,
When on 20 November 1833
Your Majesty issued a decree creating
a Commission to propose what
could be convenient regarding the rights
of dramatic writers, the establishment of
drama schools, laws that deal with the
author's profession, and, in general, the
policing of spectacles; You clearly
declared your Royal Will to be convinced
of the decadence in which these important
areas are currently found, as the theatre is,
according to the same decree, an
element of civilization that is linked
with the prosperity of many
industries, Your Majesty wished
a complete legislative project
where all the stimuli that could
be given to an art that You wished
to favour were gathered and that would
compile the best improvements
that could be done in relation
to this area of the administrative service.
For causes that it is
Chapter 1 Page 2
not worth while to specify, the results of
such benevolent intentions had
stopped and the work of the
Commission had not produced
the effect expected. Although
the lack of this law was felt in all
the areas embraced by the said
decree, there are nevertheless some
in which public opinion or necessity
have influenced favourably, facilitating
substantial improvements. However.
there is one area, that of the rights of
dramatic writers, which is totally ignored,
and bear the burden of the greatest
impunity; when, according to the regulation
of free press currently in force, they had
to be guaranteed. All dramatic
productions staged in any theatre or printed
and even those that have not yet
been represented or printed, are
quickly reproduced in the rest of the
theatres in the Peninsula without
prior authorisation, without the
knowledge of the author and sometimes
against his will. The consequences of
this practice are not only the deprivation
of their property, taking away the just
profit that for their work they should
be expecting, but also they constitute
the reason why dramatic works
Chapter 1 Page 3
are represented disfigured and full
of mutilations either because of errors
in the copies provided or because of
the ignorance of the actors, or the
lack of guidance that the author
could communicate to them, provoking
an incalculable harm to the writers who
dedicate themselves to write for the theatre
and the violation of rights of property,
guaranteed by our institutions and the
institutions of all civilized countries.
Therefore
We beseech Your Majesty to issue a
decree in which it is ordered that literary
property is to be respected in all its parts,
and thereby ordering that in no theatre
in the Peninsula may any dramatic
production be represented without the
author's prior consent and an agreement
that could secure him a compensation for
his rights, and also prohibiting that the
fact that play is already printed could serve
as an excuse to contravene this general
rule.
Madrid 4 February 1837
Madame
A.L.R.P. de V.M.
Manuel Breton Gretorio Romero
de los Herreros Larrañaga
Antonio Garcia Gutierrez
Juan Eugenio Eugenio de Ochoa
Hartzenbusch
Chapter 1 Page 4
Section 4
Circular
The complaints that several writers submitted to the august Queen in a
report dated on 4 February referring to the violation of the right of literary
property regarding dramatic works, have specifically caught the attention
of Her Majesty. The 24th and 26th laws of the Book 8th, 16th title of the
Novisima recopilacion guarantee and protect this property in general.
However the spirit of ignorance and preoccupation that, eager to
kill any source of enligthenment and life for the community,
consider the theatre with a patronising tendency as no more than a necessary
indulgence and treated it with distain and constantly disputed the application
of the aforementioned laws in favour of the dramatic art, an element of
civilization to which the prosperity of many industries is attached.
That is the reason why the right of property of the dramatic writers is
still ignored. The works represented in any theatre are frequently
reproduced in the rest of theatres in the Peninsula,* without prior
authorisation and knowledge of his author and even sometimes against
his will. This abuse does not only deprive writers from their property,
diminishing their just product of their labour but it is also the reason
why their works are represented defigured and counterfeited because of the lack
of fidelity in the copies furtively provided.
Informed Her Majesty of the need to stop this abuse,
She has decided for the Ministry under my charge to draft a bill that
declares, defines and assures the corresponding rights of literary property taking
into account all its peculiarities in order to submit it for deliberation by the
Cortes (Parliament).
But Her Majesty, who is pleased by the extraordinary flight that the Spanish
drama has taken in this era of freedom, that seems
Chapter 1 Page 5
to promise for the reign of her august Daughter a new Golden
Age of national poetry, is equally aware that the damages suffered by
writers require a more urgent solution, and in order to provide for it,
She has furthermore decided in a provisional manner while the
said bill is yet to be discussed, approved and sanctioned, that dramatic works
as with all property, are placed under the immediate protection of the
authorities, and because these productions have a special nature with
two different realities, one in the theatre and another in the press, it
will not be possible hereinafter to represent a dramatic work in any
theatre, even when it is in print, or have been represented in another
or others without [the prior] consent of its author or owner.
By royal order I communicate Your Excellency for you to give the
adequate publicity to this resolution of Her Majesty and to ensure its
exact compliance. May God be with you for many years.
Madrid 5 May 1837
Translation by: José Bellido based on a previous translation by Lisa Surwillo (University of Toronto Press, 2007) pp. 155-160