BoxOffice® Pro - May 2012

ON THE HORIZON
they could, and these Jack Sparrow-ed copies made it that much easier.
Ironically, this also made Dickens the most popular writer in the United
States, which was still struggling to establish its own literary identity.
So how much did Dickens earn from his unmatched popularity in
the United States? Practically nothing. Once the pirated copy landed in
the United States, newspaper publishers would reprint the serials at their
printing houses and then sell them for much cheaper than the legitimate
bound copies. Because there was no international copyright law in the
United States, Dickens had no legal recourse on American soil. So what
did he do? What any good Englishman would do: he went on holiday to
the United States.
On two separate occasions, Dickens visited the United States. The
first was in 1842 at the age of 30. Upon his arrival, Americans greeted
him like Ted Nugent at an NRA rally in Montana. It was a classic American
hero’s welcome for the British writer. Dickens took advantage of this
opportunity to broach the issue of an international copyright law, one of
the main purposes for his visit. It was a case of good intentions, bad idea.
His arguments mostly fell on deaf ears—why pay an American author
when you could steal from a really good British one for free? Some
Americans even turned sour toward Dickens, arguing he’d betrayed their
adulation by demanding compensation for his literary creations. (I know,
what a jackass!) He sailed home bitter and disillusioned about America
and then immediately wrote
two scathing works on his
Upon his
arrival, Americans
greeted [Dickens]
like Ted Nugent at
an NRA rally in
Montana. It was
a classic American
hero’s welcome for the
British writer.
trip entitled American Notes
and Martin Chuzzlewit.
Neither was flattering toward
the United States. Yet
despite an initial negative
reaction, Americans eventually
got over it and began
to love Dickens again. Let’s
face it: the man was great at
what he did. This must have
been why we were so eager
to forgive Mark McGwire.
Dickens, never daunted
by a political challenge,
made a second trip to
America in 1867 even as
he battled numerous health
issues. You’d be sick too if you had to live in London during the mid-
19th century. And once again, he lobbied for an international copyright
law, which, strangely, still hadn’t been passed in 25 years. Gotta love
American politics. But in our defense, we just went through a bloody
Civil War, so our minds were clearly elsewhere. In the end, Dickens
couldn’t muster enough legislative support and traveled back to England
where he died in June of 1870. However, this story does have a happy
Hollywood ending.
The U.S. Congress eventually did something to protect the works
of writers and artists. The International Copyright Act of 1891 (aka the
Chace Act after Sen. Jonathan Chace of Rhode Island) extended protection
to foreign copyright holders from select countries (i.e., countries
that weren’t trying to torpedo our ships). The law was also important
for American creators since they were more likely to have international
copyright protection in countries that were offered the same protection
by the United States. In short, everyone agreed to play nice, and those
in the creative community finally got protection under the law. This
is the ultimate goal of SOPA and PIPA: to allow the U.S. government
to protect the rights of the creative community whose works are being
distributed illegally through foreign-based websites. It doesn’t thwart
creativity—it preserves it. In the end, Charles Dickens’ efforts should
prove prophetic again.
30 BOXOFFICE PRO MAY 2012