Copyright History

History of Copyright Law

Introduction to Copyright History

Before the invention of the printing press in Europe in the 15th century, copyright law did not exist. Books were expensive and difficult to produce and few people knew how to read, so there was little need for copyright protections. By the mid-1500s, however, books had become cheaper and more widely available in Europe. To reduce the risk of rivals printing politically dangerous books, the royal government of England granted a publishing monopoly to a group of book publishers, who all belonged to a guild called the Stationers’ Company.

These publishers all depended on the favor of the English crown for their existence, and so they only published materials that did not offend the royal authorities. Additionally, whenever one member of the guild obtained the rights to publish a book, all other members agreed to refrain from competition. This private arrangement was an early form of copyright. It was replaced in 1710 when the British Parliament passed a law called the Statute of Anne, named for Queen Anne, who reigned over Great Britain and Ireland from 1702 to 1714. This was the first real copyright law in the modern sense. It granted authors the exclusive right to authorize the printing or reprinting of books for a limited number of years.

The Constitutional Convention delegates who drafted the U.S. Constitution in 1787 were familiar with the Statute of Anne and with the importance of copyright as an incentive for authors to create new works. In Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, they included a clause giving the Congress of the United States the power “to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times, to authors and inventors, the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.” This provision gave the federal government the power to enact copyright and patent statutes. Congress adopted the first U.S. copyright law in 1790. The copyright law has been amended frequently, often in reaction to new inventions, such as photography and the development of motion pictures. Congress made a major revision to U.S. law in the Copyright Act of 1909, which remained in effect until January 1, 1978, when it was replaced by the Copyright Act of 1976. Although Congress has amended the 1976 act often, this statute continues to be the legal basis for copyright protection in the United States. ” (1)

Resources

Notes and References

• Information about Copyright History in the Encarta Online Encyclopedia

Guide to Copyright History

In this Section

Copyright, Copyright History, Copyright in the Digital Age and International Copyright.