g a complete record of all
that he does. Experience soon brings such a clerk a really valuable
knowledge of the law, but as many questions of vital importance arise
from time to time, it is customary for one of the most responsible men
in the concern, generally a member of the firm or an officer in the
corporation, to exercise a general supervision of all copyright
matters.

When a book is ready to be sent to the bindery, the manufacturing
department will generally order a certain number of copies to be
finished in advance of the rest of the edition. Some of these will be
for the travelling salesman's use, some for the publicity department,
and at least two for copyright purposes. With the copies delivered to
the copyright clerk, the manufacturing department will send one or two
separate title-pages, either torn from the printed sheets or taken
from the early proofs made by the printer. With these in hand and with
information from the selling department as to the day when the book is
to be published, the clerk in charge will then take the first step
toward copyrighting it. This is the filing of the claim for copyright
and of the title of the book.

The Copyright Office in the Library of Congress at Washington supplies
free upon request application blanks, and one of these must be
carefully filled in. The information called for by this blank is as
follows: the amount of the fees enclosed, whether a sealed copy of the
record, or certificate as it is called, is desired, whether the volume
is to be classed as a book, periodical, or dramatic composition, an
abbreviated title of the book, the name of the author, or proprietor,
the name and address of the applicant, the name of the country where
the book was printed, whether the applicant is the author, or (having
an assignment from the author) the proprietor, the name of the country
of which the author is a citizen, or subject, and whether the whole or
a part of the book is sought to be copyrighted.

There is a blank page in the form where the print or proof of the
title-page must be pasted. If neither of these is available at the
time, it is customary to use a typewritten title-page, but as the law
distinctly calls for a "printed" title and as the courts have not
decided whether typewriting is printing within the intention of the
law, it is best to follow the exact letter of the law.

The fee for filing the application or claim for copyright is fifty
cents if the author