The technique of the photoplay ([c1913])

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COPYRIGHT AND THE COPYRIGHTED STORY 129 drama of the stage only the fact that players of greater merit can be employed in the parts since the presentation has to be made but once. Against this advantage there are so many disadvantages to be considered, that it is highly probable that the talking and silent pictures will have little, if anything in common. The talking picture lacks the element of condensation, it can- not be used as universally as the photoplay, since it will appeal only to those who can understand the language spoken, and it will be a long time before the mechanical difficulties can be overcome. Certain alarmists affect to see in the talking picture 'the doom of the photoplay, but most experienced observers are agreed in the belief that the talking pictures can do the photoplay little or no harm either in the present or at some future time. Undoubted- ly the talking pictures will be brought to a greater point of per- fection as time passes and will become a regular form of theatri- cal amusement, either by themselves or in the vaudeville theaters, or both, but it is highly improbable that they will prevent or even appreciably retard the advance of the-silent drama. It will be more interesting, perhaps, to both see and hear a Bernhardt in Camille, but many will prefer a Camille lasting perhaps three- quarters of an hour to a performance continuing for three hours. Talking pictures may supplement, but they can never supplant the photoplay. CHAPTER XXII. COPYRIGHT AND THE COPYRIGHTED STORY What copyright is—what protection afforded—manuscript not copyrightable—what may and may not be taken from the copyrighted story. Probably no question is more frequently asked by the novice than just how far it is possible to go in using the material of a story protected by copyright. Sometimes, indeed most often, the question seems to be asked in all sincerity, but all too often the question is phrased so clearly that it reads. "Just how far may I proceed in stealing the work of another brain and get away with it?" The answer in either case is simple. You may derive inspira- tion but not material, from the work of another. Just what in-