OHAP. vim] COPYRIGHT LEGISLATION 1217
by Order in Council the provisions of the Copyright Act of
1842, or of any other Acts, prohibiting the importation of
foreign reprints of British copyright works as to any Colonies
mn which the Legislature made due provision for securing
and protecting the rights of British authors. Under this Act
laws were passed by all the North American Colonies in the
years 1845-1850, were assented to, and Orders in Council
Were issued, and the question for the time remained in
abeyance. On the event of federation, the Provincial Legis-
lation was replaced by a Canadian Act of 1868 (c. 56), which
vas confirmed by an Order in Council of July 7, 1868.
As a result of the legislation in question, reprints in
America passed freely into Canada, but British copyright
Owners profited very little from the Act in question, as the
duty actually collected on American reprints was extremely
mall. The Canadian publishers also complained that the
effect of the Act of 1847 was to draw the whole of the business
of providing cheap reprints into the hands of the United
States publishers and printers.
In the year 1867, four of the provinces of Canada were
anited in the Dominion, and the British North America Act,
1867, 5. 91 (23), specified copyright among the subjects which
were to be within the exclusive legislative authority of the
Parliament of Canada, as distinguished from the Legislatures
of the Provinces. In the following year the Senate of
Canada, passed a resolution urging ‘the justice and ex-
pediency of extending the privileges granted by the Act of
1847, 50 that, whenever reasonable provision and protection
shall, in Her Majesty’s opinion, be secured to the authors,
Colonial reprints of British copyright works shall be placed
On the same footing as foreign reprints in Canada, by which
neans British authors will be more effectually protected in
their rights and a material benefit will be conferred on the
Printing industry of the Dominion’. This address was
‘upported by the Finance Minister, who addressed a memo-
‘andum to the Secretary of State on July 1, 1868, in which
he pointed out that the Canadian public were dependent
for their supply of reprints on the United States, to the serious
