The exploitation of China's nonparticipation in the Berne Copyright [Convention by unscrupulous. publish-Jere who "pirate" English-language works—mainly of British and Ameri-Jean origin—and sell the resultant products here at prices far below those of the authorized editions has received pointed attention in Eng-jand recently. In the course of the Jdiscussion in Parliament and in. the [Press some glaring examples have been cited—Mr. Stimson's book on "The Far Eastern Crisis" has been prominent victim. Perhaps for nhalveté this disclosure to "The Times" by Mr. Tresham Lever takes the palm:
A distinguished Oxford don author fane er he volumes tu" the "Home sonal letter from a Chinese protest 2 former member" of his Colles forming him that he was engaged on a translation of hie work which' woud fel"in" the "publishers" hands" dur the course of the "and On this the original publisher of the work wrote to the Chinese scholar and, not unnaturally, asked what_he was prepared {0 pay for the Chinese translation rights: the reply was to the effect that as China had "never subscribed to the Berne Convention the request could not be complied with. Chinese subjects are fully protected by their own copyright laws of 1928 and Mr. Lever pertinently remarks that "it obviously the moral duty of the Chinese Government either to. subscribe to the Berne Copyright Convention or to amend the law: to afford protection to foreign authors."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.