authors like Washington Irving and Fenimore
Cooper secured for a time satisfactory returns; but after 1850 the
conditions became the same as in the United States. Unauthorized
editions were published, and were often incomplete and garbled.

As from decade to decade the books produced on either side of the
Atlantic, which possessed interest for readers of the other side,
increased in quantity and in importance, the evil of these unrestricted
piracies increased. The injury to British authors was greater only in
proportion as the English books were more numerous. The pressure from
Great Britain during the last half of the 19th century for international
copyright was continuous; and in America it was recognized by authors,
by representative publishers, and by the more intelligent people
everywhere, that the existing conditions were of material disadvantage.
The loss to American authors was direct; and the loss to legitimate
American publishers was also clear, in that better returns could be
secured by adequate payments for rights that could be protected by law
than by "courtesy" payments for authorizations that carried no legal
rights. An injury was being done to American literature; for, when
authorized editions of American works had to compete against
unauthorized and more cheaply produced editions of English works, the
business incentive for literary production was seriously lessened. In
fiction particularly, authors had to contend against a flood of cheaply
produced editions of "appropriated" English books. Equally to be
condemned were the ethics of a relation under which one class of
property could be appropriated while other classes secured legal
protection. On these several grounds efforts had long been made to
secure international copyright. Between 1843 and 1886 no less than
eleven international copyright bills were drafted, for the most part at
the instance of the copyright associations or copyright leagues. They
were one after the other killed in committee. In 1886 the twelfth
international copyright bill was brought before the Senate by Senator
Jonathan Chace of Rhode Island, and was referred to the committee on
patents. In 1887 the American Publishers' Copyright League (succeeding
the earlier American Publishers' Association) was organized, with
William H. Appleton as president and G. H. Putnam as secretary. The
executive committee of this league formed, with a similar committee of
the Author's Copyright League