English: The Pirate Publisher—An International Burlesque that has the Longest Run on Record by Joseph Ferdinand Keppler, published as a centrefold in
Puck, v. 18, no. 468 (1886 February 24). A commentary on the state of copyright laws that, prior to a 1911 treaty, generally offered no protection to foreign authors and works.
In the cartoon, hordes of German, Norwegian, French, English, and American authors surround a publisher who republishes their newly-created works without attribution or royalties in a foreign country, as international law then allowed. Of note is
W. S. Gilbert, fifth from the right in the front row, as the many unauthorised or "pirate" productions of
H.M.S. Pinafore caused him and
Arthur Sullivan to première
The Pirates of Penzance in America, to at least gain the initial profits there before anyone else could exploit it, and the title and subject of The Pirates of Penzance is sometimes - although somewhat dubiously in
my opinion - considered to partially be a reference to the issue of pirate productions of their works. Other authors shown include
Mark Twain,
Tennyson,
Robert Browning,
F. C. Burnand,
Émile Zola,
Jules Verne,
Victorien Sardou,
Wilkie Collins,
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., as well as many others.
This has been a very difficult restoration - there were actually 3 or 4 false starts as I tried to get around a very nasty crease in the original. I think it came out pretty well in the end, though.
Français : Cette illustration de
Joseph Ferdinand Keppler a été publiée en février 1886 dans le magazine satirique
Puck. Il s'agit d'un commentaire sur l'état juridique du
copyright qui, avant un traité signé en 1911, n'offre habituellement aucune protection aux auteurs étrangers et à leurs oeuvres. Dans l'illustration, des auteurs allemands, norvégiens, français, anglais et américains entourent un éditeur qui republie leurs dernières oeuvres sans paternité ou redevances dans un pays étranger, ce qu'autorisent les lois internationales de cette époque.
Les noms des auteurs caricaturés apparaissent sur leur chapeau ou une affiche à proximité :
William S. Gilbert,
Mark Twain,
Alfred Tennyson,
Robert Browning,
Émile Zola,
Jules Verne,
Victorien Sardou,
Wilkie Collins,
Oliver Wendell Holmes,
John Greenleaf Whittier,
Charles Dickens,
Bret Harte,
Georg Moritz Ebers,
James Russell Lowell...