Life, 1912-07-18 · page 20 of 44
Life — July 18, 1912 — page 20: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two separate items: **"A Question of Deadheadism"** discusses a copyright dispute between *Life* magazine and the *New York Mail and Express*. The issue: newspapers were republishing *Life's* copyrighted pictures and articles without permission or attribution. The text argues this "deadhead" (free) pilfering of content harms both the original creators and publications that legitimately pay for material. The satirical angle critiques publishers who fill columns cheaply by stealing rather than licensing content. **"Miles vs. Cooney"** reports a public dispute between General Nelson A. Miles and Edward J. Cooney, president of the Catholic Press Association. Miles accused Cooney's organization of reviving the "A.P.A." (American Protective Association—a nativist, anti-Catholic organization). Cooney denied bigotry; Miles countered that Catholic organizations were manipulating politics and subordinating state affairs to church dictation. The cartoon's joke at page bottom is unrelated—a quip about a "hair restorer" salesman.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
1436 A Question of Deadheadism HE Minneapolis Tribune, com- menting on Lire’s recent re- covery against the New York Mail and Express, says: c in question turned on the tion by an American journal a picture copyrighted by Lire, copied into a foreign paper without credit and ignorantly taken from that by the American offender. The same rule would prevail for reading matter; so that a copy- ghted paragraph =o might travel around the world without a sign of its origin and get its last repro- ducer into trouble without a thought of offense. It is not an answer to say that this extreme right to punish for in- fringemenc of copyright is not cxer- cised against those who quote small parts of protected articles in good faith. The right’ established by Lire may be asserted at any mo ment by any one of a thousand own- crs of newspaper or magazine copy right The common sense of juries may le depended upon to ‘protect honest publishers from blackmail or frivo- lous lawsuits under the present copy- right law. Custom is sometimes stronger than law, and the uni- versal custom of making brief ex- tracts from copyrighted text for pur- poses of comment, or reply, is so firmly established that no jury would ignore it Lire appealed to the courts only after repeated warnings to all pub- lishers that. its copyrighted pictures must not be copied without permis- sion secured in advance. This jour- nal has never objected to the use of extracts from its text under the cus- tomary journalistic courtes: Lire’s controversy is with publish- ers who seek to fill: their columns without cost by liberally helping themselves to artistic and literary material for which other publishers have paid the fair market price. Publications made up of deadhead and pilfered material work injustice not only to artists and writers, but also to those publications that pay for what they use. OUNG LAWYER: I haven’: lost a case yet? Friexp: Oh, you'll get a client some day «LPB Miles vs. Cooney EN. NELSON A. MILES has been getting into trouble with the Catholic Press Association. Or perhaps we should say that the Catholic Press Association has been getting into troubie with General Miles. Mr. Edward J. Cooney is president of the association. Mr. Cooney is a polished gentleman and knows how to sling English. In taking General Miles to task for attempting, as he states, “to reincarnate in this land of liberty that ugly skeleton of bigotry one time called the A. P. A! Mr. Cooney continues : “The Catholic citizens of this glori- ous republic % know that the day has gone by when bigotry’s snake- like hiss can put their fellow citizens in a panic of distrust and hi: General Miles says in reply: “If you believe that our citizens should be controlled by political ma- chines and boss rule; if you believe in the destruction of our free educa tional system; if you or any of your associates believe in making the affairs of state subordinate to the dictation of your church; if you or any of your associates believe in openly or secretly manipulating, controlling and dictating the political action of any portion of our citizens, in order that in time our republic may become subject to and subservient of your church, then there is a decided difference of opinion be- tiveen us.” “YOUNG MAN, YOU AKE THLE FIRST GENUINE HAIR RESTOREK 1 WAVE EVER SEEN. comicbooks-co