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CHAPTER LXIX 349 books or plays on speculation. Manufacturers prefer to deal direct with the holder of copyrights or an agent. 28. You cannot copyright a title. This is merely an identification and not a part of the literary production. It is the literary produc- tion to which copyright protection is extended and not to the title. If you have written a play called, for instance, "He and Her," you cannot prevent, under the copyright laws, the use of that title by an- other. You can prevent the use of your play, for this you have regis- tered for protection. The title is not a part of the play under the Copyright Act. If, however, your play "He and Her" has made such a success as to give grounds for belief that the second play is an at- tempt to profit by the success of your play, then you can appeal to common law and probably stop the use of the title. 29. As a rule it does not pay you to invoke copyright protection. All legal action must be at your own cost and this expense will gen- erally amount to more than the value of the script; particularly if you wan your suit and the case is appealed. 30. There is too great a tendency to suppose that the word Copy- right is a menace the mere appearance of which on a script will have the same tendency upon a thief as the broken glass the voudoo doctor sprinkles upon a wall has upon a negro believer. If it should hap- pen that some one should wish to steal your script he would know that copyright would be but a slight bar. It will not prevent theft to write on your script that it is copyrighted. On the other hand you declare yourself to be a liar if you do so. because all Editors know that typed manuscript may not be copyrighted. (:).XXIII:23) (21.XLIX:8) (28.XXVn :18). CHAPTER LXIX THE STOLEN STORY SOONER or later—and generally sooner—every author, whether of fiction or photoplay, is bound to ask if Editors are stealing his stories. No matter how experienced a writer may be, there are certain to come times when he is positive that a stor^^ has been stolen by some studio to which he sent it. 2. Beyond question there must be some dishonest employees in a business so large, and it is useless to argue that stories are never sto- len, but on the other hand the number of these thefts is negligible, and in a greater number of instances the charges are without founda- tion. 3. You send your story to a studio and it comes back. Presently you find that the company has released, or is about to release, a story identical with your own. You are certain that it is your own and you