US Copyright Office: ar-1938

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THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESSCOPYRIGHT OFFXCE

FORTY-FIRST ANNUAL REPORT

OF THE

REGISTER OF COPYRIGHTS

FOR THE FISCAL YEARENDING JUNE 30

1938

UNITED STATES

CQVERNMENT PRINTING O m C E

WASHINGTON : 1 9 s '



REPORT OF THE REGISTER OF COPYRIGHTS

FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 1937-1938

WASHINGTON, . C., bdy 9, 1938.SIB: The copyright business and the work of th e Copyright Oilice

for the fiscal year July 1, 1937, to J un e 30, 1938, inclusive, are sum-marized as follows: -

IwmE3s

The gross receipts during the year were $326,326.67. A balanceof $26,644.92, representing trus t funds and &shed busin-, wason hand July 1, 1937, making a total Wm of $352,971.59 to be aocounted for. Of thi s amount the sum of $27,224.18 was refunded a s

excess fees or as fees for ar ticles not registrable, leaving a net balanceof $325,747.46. The balance carried over to July 1, 1938, was $26,-967.86 (representing tru st fu nds and total unfinished business), la v -ing fees applied during the fiscal year 193748 and paid into theTreasury, $298,779.60.

The annunl applied fees since July 1,1897, are shown in exbibit 6.

P. 12.)E X P E N D r m R m

The total expenditure for salaries was $250,322.37. Th e expendi-ture for supplies, including stationery and other articles and postageon foreign mail matter, ek., was $1,920.58. The total expenditureswere, therefore, $252,242.95. This sum, deducted from $298,775.80fees received and turned into the Treasury, shows a profit of $46,-

536.65 to the credit of the Copyright Office.T'lq total appropriation mads by Congress for salaries in th e

Copyright 0 5 c e for the fiscal yeZr 193 738 as carried in the Appro-priation Act was $251,9001)0.

Dur ing the period of 41 yeam (1897-1938) the copyright b k -ness, as evidenced by the applied fees, ncreased over fivefold. Dur-ing these 41 years since the organization of the present CopyrightOffice the copyright fees applied and paid into the Treasury haveamounted to a grand total oo $6,269,801.70, and the total copy-righ t registrations have numbered over five millions (5,363,486).The fees earned ($6,269,801.70) were larger than the total of salariespaid during the same period ($5,257,401.81) by $1,012,400.39, thetofa1 profit for 41 years.

1



I n addition to thi s direct profit the large number of over 9,000@0books, maps, musical works, periodicals, prints, and other articlesdeposited during the 41 years were of substantial pecuniary valueand of such a character that the accession of most of these to theLibrary of Congress through the Copyright Office effected a largesaving to the purchase fund of the Library equal in amount to theirprice.

COPYRIQHT ENTRIEB AND FEE8

The registrations for the fiscal year numbered 166,248. Of t h ~ ,118,153 were registrations for published works a t $2 each; 35,947 wereregistrations for unpublished works at $1 each; 2,208 were regis-trations of photographs without certificates at $1 each. There were

also 9,940 registrations of renewals a t $1 each. The fees for theseregistrations amounted to a total of $284,401.00.

Balance on hand Ju ly 1, 1937 .................................. $26,844.82Gross receipb July 1, 1937, o June SO, 1938 ------------------ 326,328.67

Total to be accounted for .............................. 352,911.69Refunded ------------,------

-,- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27,22413

Balance to be accounted for --------- -- ................... 325,747.46Applied as earned fees ----------,---,-------------298,779.60Balance carried over to July 1, 1038:

a u ~ t $21,228.82Unfinished business ---------------- 6,739.01

--------- 28,867.86325,747.46

Fees for registration of published works. a t 62 each---------------- 236.308.00Fees for registration of unpublished works, at $1 each ------,-------5,947.00Fees fo r registrat ion of photographs without certificates, a t $1 each-- 2,208.00Fees for reglstratlon of renewals, a t $1 each

-----------,940.00

J

Total fees for registration recorded ---- - --- - ----- ------- 284,40L 0

Fees for certified copies of record, a t $1 each ---------- $l, 476.00Fees for recording assignments -------------- -------- 11,468.00Searches made and charged for a t t he ra te of $1 for

each hour of t ime consumed ---,------------,------- 884.00

Notice of user recorded (music) -----,------------------88 004 Indexing transfers of proprietorship ..................... 182.60

14,378.60

Total fee8 fo r the ilscal year, 1W-88 ------- ------------- 298, TTO. dO-



REPORT THE RmISTEL O F ~ Y R I ~ ~

Number of r e g i s t r a t i o n s - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 158,308Number of renewals recorded------------------------------------ 9,040

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186,248Number of certified copies of record --,-----------------------,478Number of assignments recorded or copied 3,275

A c o r n

On July 6, 1938, the boob of the Copyright OEce were balancedfor June, the accounts for the fiscal year were closed, and the finan-cial statements completed for the Treasury Department, showingthat all earned fees to June 30 had been paid into the Treasury. .

'By f ar the largest par t of the business of the Copyright O f l h

is done by correspondence. The total letters and pareek receivedduring the fiscal year numbered 238,002, while the letters, ~ a ~ c e l s ,ate., dispatched numbered 204,369. Both figures show a considerableincrease over last year.

COPYRIGHT DEPOgITB

The total number of separate rirticles deposited in compliance withthe copyright law which have been registered during the fiscal yearis 257,234. The number of these articles in each class for the I&5 fiscal years is shown in exhibit E. It is not possible to determineexactly how completely the works which claim copyright are depos-ited, but in response to inquiries received during the year from theCard Division, the Accession Division, Law Division, and the Read-ing Room in regard to 884 books supposed to have been copyrightedbut not discovered in the Library, it was found that '15 of theseworks had been received and were actually in the Library; 16 boobhad been deposited and were stilt in the Copyright Oitice; 96 w d swere either not published, did not claim copyright, or for other validreasons could not be deposited; while in the case of 201 works noanswers to our letters of inquiry had been received up to June 30,1938. Copies were received of 496 works in all in response to ques t smade by the Copyright Offim during the period of 12 months f o r

works published in recent years.

Our copyright laws have required the deposit of copies for t heuse of the Library of Congress, and the act in force demands adeposit of two copies of American books, and one of foreign booksregistered. The act provides, however, tha t of the works deposited



4 REPORT OF THE REQISTER OF COPYRIGHTE

for copyright, the Librarian of Congress may determine (I) whatbooks or other articles shall be tr ansfel ~e d o the permanent collec-tions of the Library of Congress, including the Law Library; (2)what other books or articles shall be placed in the reserve coUectionsof the Library of Congress fo r sale or exchange; or (3) be trans-ferred to other governmental libraries in the Distric t of Columbiafor use therein. The law further provides (4) th at a rtides remainingundisposed of may upon specified conditions be returned to theauthors or copyright proprietors.

During the fiscal year a total of 194,433 current articles depositedhave been transferred to the Library of Congress. This numberincluded 72,098 books, 102,301 periodical numbers, 16,197 p i w s ofmusic, 2,317 maps, and 1,520 photographs and engravings.

Under authority of section 59 of the act of March 4, 1909, therewere transferred during the fiscal year to other governmental libra-ries in the District of Columbia fo r use therein, 4,261 boob. Underthis transfer, up to June 30, 1938, the following libraries havereceived a total number of books as indicated below since 1909:

Department of Agriculture, 4,616; Department of Commeme,23,076; Navy Department, 1,879; Treasury Department, 1,496;Bureau of Education, 22,711; Federal Trade Commission, 25,797;-Bureau of Standards, 2,094; Army Medical Library, 9,894; Walte rReed Hospital, 2,884; Engineer School, Corps of Engineers, 3,202;Soldiers' Home, 1,600; Public Library of the Dis trict of Columbia,63,772. A number of other libraries have received a smaller numberof books. I n all, 186,037 volumes have been thus distributed dur ingthe last 29 years.

The Copyright Act of 1909 authorizes the return to copyrightclaimants of such deposits as are not needed by the Library ofCongress or the Copyright Office, after due notice as required bysection 60. I n the ordinary routine of -business or in response tospecial requests 3,612 motion-picture films and 43,302 deposits inother classes have been so returned during the fiscal year.

INDEX AN D CATALOQ OF COPYRIGHT ENTRIFS

A new system of indexing has been installed in accordance withreorganization plans. There is now in the process of productionone general index for all classes of copyrightable works. Underthis system it is intended eventually to consolidate into this gen-eral index the numerous card indexes now existing in the CopyrightOffice which, at the date of the last report, comprised approximately9,000,000 cards. Thus fa r, this new index system consists roughlyof 350,000 cards which cover all material registered since November8, 1937.





6 REPORT OF THE REGISTER OF COPYRIGHTS

. The entries on hand in the Catalog Section on June 30, 1938,nunlbered 2,908 as against 4,068 as of April 1, 1938, when the changereferred to was made. A t that time the daily average of productioliwas 515.58; t he daily average of production for Jun e 1938, was602.65. At the time the change of administration in the Record andCertificate Section was effected, the entries on hand were 7,817. OnJune 30, 1938, they were reduced to 3,583, showing a reduction of4,234.

Under the new indexing and filing system, 304,112 cards had beenfiled a t the end of the fiscal year.

Following the reorganization, a survey of positions in the Copy-right Office was undertaken by the representative of the Civil ServiceCommission, but up to date has not been completed. This survey hasled to certain changes in organization and allocation.

The total expenditures deducted from the fees received and turnedinto the Treasury for the present &a1 year show a profit of $46,-536.65 to the credit of the Copyright Office, resulting i n an increase inprofit over that shown for the fiscal year 1937 of $17,743.72.

PROTeCTION OF FOREIQN EXHIBITORS AT PACIFIC-MERC.4DO EXPOSITION

H. J. Res. 447. A joint resolution to protect the copyrights and patent s of for-eign exhibitom at the Pacac-Mercado International Exposition to be hdd a tLos Angeles, California, in 1040.

Introduced by Mr. Costello of California July 16, 1937, and referred to t heCommittee on Patents. Approved May 111, 1938.

BILLB AND RE80LUTIOIS IN CONORE88

The following bills, among others, were introduced during the fiscalyear, but had not been enacted into law u p to Ju ne 30, 1938:

H. R 8808. A bill to vest in the Reglater of Copyrights the regi stration ofprints and labels.

Introduced December 3.1937, by Mr. Luthe r A Johnson of Tezas (b y requeet)aud referred to the Committee on Patents.

This bill i s substantially the same as the one which passed th e Sen-ate February 4, 1936, except that it retains the registration fee of$6.00 as under Section 3 of the act of J une 18, 1874, which it isdesigned to repeal.

H. R 8838. A bill to enti tle Eftle Canning Carlton now to ffle with the Registerof Copyrights a corrected application for renewal of copyright of her musicalcomposition entitled "Rocka-Bxe Baby."

Introduced January 6, 1938, by Mr. Connery of Massachusetts, and referredto the Committee on Patenta



R E P O RT O FTHE

R E G I S T E R O FCOPTRIOHTS 7

This is identical with the bil l introduced by Mr. Lailham of TexasJanuary 6, 937.

S. 3969. A biil to amend section 23 of the Copyright Act by deleting from the-second proviso clause thereof the w ords "when such contribution h as been sepa-rately registered."

Introduced Aprl l 20. 1938, by. Sen ato r Lodge of Ma ssachusetts, w ith a fav or-able report by Senator bfcAdoo, and passed the Se nate Ju ne7, 1938, nd referredto the Committee on Pa ten t s of the H o e .

H. R. 10503. The s a m e a s 8. 3969 above.Introduced May 3, 1938, by Mr. Lnce of M a s sa ch u se tt s, ~ n defe r red to the

Committee on Patents.H. J. Res. 671. A joint resolut ion to creat e a B ureau of Fine Arts for the pr*

ruot ion of a r t an d l i terature through the use of copyrighted and copyrightablematerial.Introduced May 4, 1938, by Mr. S iror ich of New Po rk, cud re fe r red to the

Committee on Patents.8. J. Res. ,303. A joint resolut ion to authorize an approprint ion for and direct

tbe Department of Labor to make a n investigat ioi i and report regarding theeffect upon the pr int ing t rades resul t ing fro m themanufartu;ing requirements ofth e Copyright Act.

Introduced April 20, 1938, by Sena tor DulTy of W isconsin, and referred to t heCommittee on Educat ion andLabor.

H. R. 10683. A bill regulating the useof copyrighted works incases where anyperson is unable to secure an agreement with the copyrigi~lowner for suchdesired use thereof.

Introduced May 18, 1938, by Mr. Moser of Pennsylv ania, nrid re ferred to t heCommittee on Patents.

INTERNATIONAL COPYRIQHT CONVENTIOS

Senator ~ u f l i , rom the Committee on Foreign Relations, reportedfdvorably with a reservation Executive E, Seventy-Third Congress,2d section, being a Convention for the protection of Literary andArtistic Works as revised and signed at Rome June 2, 1928, and sub-mitted a report thereon {Ex. Rept. 1) on November 26, 1937.

Respectfully submitted.CLEM EN^ L. B d ,

... Regipter of Copyright%.HERBERT UTNAM, ,

Librarian of Congress.



EXHIBITSp e-

A. Receipts ,,, - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - , , ,- - - - 11

B.FeEs -,,,----,--,-,-,,,,,,,-

- , , - - - - - - - - - - - - - - , , , - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 11

C. Yearly comparison --- ,,, - - - - - - - - - - , , , - - - - . - 12

D. Registrations - , - - , , , , , , - - - - - - , - - , - - - - - - - , , , - 1333. Articlea depositah --------

,-----

- - , - - - - ;---- ------ - - ---- 13

9



EXHIBITA

BTATEMENT OF OROBB RECFIPTB REFUN D8 NRT RECEIPT8 AND FEEB APP LIE DFO R FIE~CAL 'YEAR E N D ~ N O JUNE w, ~18'

Month

1937July - - . . . . - - - . - - - . - - - - - - - - - - - . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -August - . .- . . . . . -- .----- .- .--- .--- .--- .---------SepCembet - - - . . - - . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . - - - - - - - - - -October --.-..-.--.---------------.------------November --.- . . . - - . - - - - - - - . - - - - - - - - - - - - . - -December . . . . . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . - -

1988January. . . . - . . . - . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -February. -. - . - . . - - . - - - - - - - - - - - . - - - - - - - - - - - - -M W C ~ . . . - - . . - - . . . - - - - - - . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . - - -A u ..-...--....-.-.-----------------------d y .-.-.--.. .-. .III.III.III.IIIIIIIII~ u n e . . . - . - - - . . . - . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . . -

Total - . . - . . . . - - . . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Balance brought f o r w d from June a0,1P37 -..-. -....--.-------------------------- - - - - - - 3,01C OrtNet receipts Jul 1,1937, to June SO, 1938: . ~

Gross -Ypta--; -.----.-.-------------------.--------------------------- 328.3S.87h mount refundad .---..--.-.---------.---------------------------------- 7, pc 11 m 1 m s

Total to be amounted foror. - - . - - . - - - . - . . - - - - - - - - . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . - - - - % 747.46Co yright fees applied July 1 1937, to June SO, 1W8 -,.....- ; --.-.-------------- aQB, 7%@IEIaKnca carried forward to J d y 1.18a8;

Trust funds . - - - - . - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - . - - - -- - - - - - - - - . - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - 1,ZB.EZUntinLFbed bnsioeas , - . - - - . . . - - - - - - . - . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . - - - - - - - - - - - ,739. Ol--

a 747.m

EXHIBIT B

RECORD OF APPLIED FEE8



12 REPORT OF TH E REQISTEB 0 ) COPPRXGHT8

EzhtMt B--Continued

July.. ...............August. .............September --..-..--.-October ..............Novemba.. - .. .-.-.Decamber ............

.January ..............February.. ..........

March -.-.--..-.----..April.-. .- .--..--- .May .................-June .................

EXHIBIT C

-STAT EMEN T OF GROSS CASH RECEIPTS YEARL Y FEE8 NUM BER OF REGIBTRA-TIONB, ETC.. FOE 4̂1 FIS CAL Y E A ~ B

-&=

-..-.---..- - - - - - -

2,Ml..........

5,001'--.-...-.-5151'------.----------- -....................

4.W..........

11,067.

..........1 , ~

...........7 , W

-..--. -.

2%..........

...........

............

.:::::-::::...........

.....................

..------ ............

ai,obs.8,160

i2Z. - - - - - - - - - -

..........

..........

$6g)-----------

,--.....................

5,42313,WJ.--;

............8n

l % W4. aao.4 1%

.-.----..--.W

............61%471)3'

.............8 . W

- -n 4

.................-......

427613,659&718

.18,748164

11.m6 x 6 . -0, 014

.10,833

........................

............1,6232,W

1 4 . ~ 1............

11.824

.......................

Y.sr

1891-88 ................................1888-88 ................................1899-19W ..............................1900-1901 ..............................1901-2 .................................

1802-3 .................................19034 .................................1

................................. eo5-e1808-7 .................................1807-8 .................................1W-9 .................................1WB-10 ................................ l e i e n ................................1911-12 ................................

................................ e ~ l a3913-14 ................................

................................ 914-151915-18 ................................1916-17 ................................1917-18 ................................

................................ o i e i o1919-0 ................................

................................ 820-!ZI1921-P.. ..............................

................................ 972-23

................................ 1925%1924-2S ................................1-28 ................................lea-s ................................1921-28

................................ 1028-rn ................................19'29-30 ................................

................................ 930-31193142 ................................183- ................................1m.w --.---..---.--------------------

................................ 83445

................................ 1ss-a-1s36n ...............................1987-S ................................

T o U ...........................

G-rrelpta

8 1 , 0 9 0 . ~84.1Bd.M71,072.9869526.N6% 06.06

71,533.9175302888 0 : ~ ' ~82, alaoa87, 384. 81

3 %113 682831 1 a : ~ ~ i . a120,149.611 1 8 , ~ . l a122,636. W115,KBpM115.6m.42113.808.61108 la 87i i7 ' a i aoa132: 371.87141.189.88144 393.a153.Bp.62

-167,706.88.173,871.951 s . m ~i ~ i , a 7 s . 8zoi,asr.ro3za, 135.1~338,980.76312866.41284,719.20.254,754.m258,829.68289,348.81m, 140. ~a

2e5,sla.ar328.328.67

Yearlypplred ern

m.898.~58,287.0066,,208.W09 887 MJ

. 6 4 : @ 7 : ~.

68,874.6072fJa.W78.oSaOOa4 1% oo

2%:83,816.76

104,644. Wim.01%m116,8811.06'1 1 4 ~ ~ 3 ~ ~12d219.26111:822761 1 2 , m 8 5 .

110,W.U106,352 40113,118.00126.492 25

. 134,6l6..16138,516.16149,W. 00

162,544.90166.809.55178,m.mwm.aoies. 1cn.o~3m.oea.80327.628.90308,414.80280,Q64.9025o,w6.ao251,591.m259,881.m285, m9 0zso , sc l . u~

rwtmtionrumber d

74 545'So OSS

9470892,Jal

l d l ~l l%aM11 7 . 7 ~121 623lle'74!4.1261811114 108.1209811 1 8 : 4 ~ ~l!U,lM1 1 11 1 6 , ~111,488108 T) 811a;ao~128 ,W135.2801 3 g m

.

165,8481n.w

I ,1 7 2 , ml 6 4 , W-161.735ia7.424:138,617142 ,mli ~ , w154,424lm,#e



EXHIBIT D

NUMBER OF REOIBTRATIONB MADE DURING TH E LAST 8 FISCAL YEA=

EXHIBIT E

NUMBER OF ARTICLES DEPOSITED DURING THZ LAST 6 FISCAL YEARS

Class-

A

BCDEF0BI

JKL

MR

Subject matter of wpp rbh t

Boob:(a) Printed In the Unlted S W :

Books pr om .-----------------------Pamphlets, leaflets, etc .-.......-..--Contributions to newspapers and

periodic& ----..-..----------------

T O ~-.-........-.------------- .

( b Printed abroad In a foreign lan(c j English books registered for ad-=-

copyright ..----.-..------------------

Total.. - . . -. - - -Periodicah (numbers) -..----.-.--- --------Lectures, sermons, add- -----....--------Dramatic or dramstico-museial compositions-Musical compositions .-.---------------------Maps . . . . - . - - - - . . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . -Workscf art, models or deaigna --.----..-.---Reproductions of works of art ..-.-.--...-----Drawings o r plastic works of a scientlllc or .

technical c h m c b r - - . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - . - - - - - - - ,Photographs ..---.---------------------------Prints and pictorial illustrations .--...-------Motion-picture photoplays -...-.-..----------Motion ictunrs not photoplays .-.-...-------Renew& .------....------------------------

Total --..--.-.--.-.-.------------------

1937-a

2aBM-416

8,196

@(ST$64U

1,177

lOl, 290nree

1.034

4 2 %a.424

% %

l a e l4 7Sl

C b-

BCDEF0llI

J

Subject matter of wpy rIght

B o o b(a) Prlnted in tha United Ststu~:

Books proper. -.-..------.-----------P8IIlphletS. 1 t l U -.......-------Contributions to newspa- .ad

perlodid8 ---.-...-..-.-.-.......-.

Total .-...-.--.....---------.----b Printed ahroad in a foreign lnngwg~ -.-c English work8 registered for ad interim1

copyright -..-.--.-----...-.----------

ToCal-...----.-.--.--------------~ e r i o d i c a k ....---.--------------------.----I~Xtllre9 SeIlUOnS btC .---.---.--.-----------~ r a m a t i b r dramktI.tico-musical ompositiq-M u si d compositions -....-------------------Mnpa -...--..-...--------------------------Works of art, models or design^ ----.-.-..---Reproduc tions 01 works nI art --.--...-.-.--..Drnwings or plastic wor h of a sdentUk or.

technical charactff-- ---..------------------Photomphs - . . . . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

1U3-s -

10,8004 '

7,740

7Q.8,an8,M

1,168 .

84,283 '

7 L4 11)i .

2 % .4@&3

0 .

2,8014 W

1m4-86

-- %7,876

---6,0783,s

1,238

89 KOd 7 m

327, '

33,9119:6

$1

8 WO8 678

188s-(W '

,

7.062 '

820863.863

l, ZdQ

Q7 16774 -

8177, M

40,5224 8 6 6

8, y

18

1 W

'am,

7

8@%3,841 ,

1.272

2%.en

7 . mS P 9 0

4 5 9 88 TII

0

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