Sir, The Government has authorised the extradition to the US of someone who has allegedly incited infringement of copyright (report, Mar 14). What a shame there was no copyright law when the Americans published the works of Sir Walter Scott, Wordsworth, Dickens and others without remunerating the authors. Scott would not have died in poverty had he received royalties.
Now that the British are expected to apologise for deeds committed by their ancestors, should we not expect a similar apology by Americans on behalf of its 19th-century publishers? It would be a fitting memorial for Dickens who fought so hard for copyright to become law in the US. It did not happen until more than 20 years after his death.
Yanka Gavin
London SW11