Proclamation 1557—Copyright—Sweden

By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation

Whereas, it is provided by the Act of Congress of March 4, 1909, entitled "An Act to amend and consolidate the Acts respecting copyright", that the benefits of said Act shall extend to the work of an author or proprietor who is a citizen or subject of a foreign state or nation, only upon certain conditions set forth in Section 8 of said Act, to-wit:

(a) When an alien author or proprietor shall be domiciled within the United States at the time of the first publication of his work; or

(b) When the foreign state or nation of which such author or proprietor is a citizen or subject grants, either by treaty, convention, agreement, or law, to citizens of the United States the benefit of copyright on substantially the same basis as to its own citizens, or copyright protection substantially equal to the protection secured to such foreign author under this Act or by treaty; or when such foreign state or nation is a party to an international agreement which provides for reciprocity in the granting of copyright, by the terms of which agreement the United States may, at its pleasure, become a party thereto;

And, Whereas, it is also provided by said Section that "The existence of the reciprocal conditions aforesaid shall be determined by the President of the United States, by proclamation made from time to time, as the purposes of this Act may require";

And, Whereas, The King of Sweden has declared, under authority of law, that on and after February 1, 1920, citizens of the United States shall be entitled to all the benefits conferred by the new copyright laws of Sweden, including the exclusive right to reproduce their works by means of records or perforated rolls or any other appliances for mechanical reproduction?

Now, Therefore, I, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States of America, do declare and proclaim that one of the alternative conditions specified in Section 8 of the Act of March 4, 1909, was fulfilled in respect to the subjects of Sweden on February 1, 1920, and that the subjects of Sweden from and after that date shall be entitled to all the benefits of the said Act, and the acts amendatory thereof to and including the Act of Congress of March 28, 1914, including copyright controlling the parts of instruments serving to reproduce mechanically a musical work, as provided in Section 1 (d) of the said Act, in the case of all works by Swedish authors which have been published on or after February 1, 1920, and have been deposited and registered for copyright in the United States.

In Testimony Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington this 27th day of February, in the Year of our Lord, One Thousand. Nine Hundred and Twenty, and of the Independence of the United States of America the One Hundred and Forty-fourth.

WOODROW WILSON

By the President:

Frank L. Polk, Acting Secretary of State