The 'Treloar Copyright Bill' was a revision of the
United States copyright laws introduced February 13, 1896 in the first
session of the
54th United States Congress as
House of Representatives (H.R.) Bill No. 5976 by
Missouri 9th District Representative
William M. Treloar, and then extensively revised. Later reintroduced as H.R. 8211.
The bill incorporated two other pending bills (which were ultimately passed on their own) to create a
register of copyrights (called a commissioner in the Treloar Bill), and to expand protections for public performance of
copyrighted works, including
music for the first time. The bill would have also extended the term of copyright 12 years, from 24 years and a 14 year extension (48 years) to 40 years and a 20 year extension (60 years) and extended the
manufacturing clause of the
1891 International Copyright Act to include most items excluded in
1891, including
music,
maps, et al.
The bill was subject to extensive criticism in the press, especially for extending the
manufacturing clause, and was strongly opposed by the authors and publishers copyright leagues. It never made it out of the House of Representatives Committee on
Patents.
References
Zvi Rosen, The Twilight of the Opera Pirates: A Prehistory of the Right of Public Performance for Musical Compositions,
24 Cardozo Arts & Ent. L. J. 1157 (2007) (The third section deals with the entire history of the bill).