This is a freely-accessible, publicly-funded digital archive that collects together significant documents relating to the history of copyright law and practice. The documents have been selected by national editors, with the input of an editorial advisory board. Key documents are, where appropriate, transcribed and translated. The editors have written commentaries, explaining the reasons for selecting documents and their significance. The project was launched in 2008, initially funded by the AHRC in relation to 5 countries. Since 2024 it is supported by the AHRC as UK research infrastructure. The archive now extends to more than 20 (including historical and religious) jurisdictions and over 700 primary source documents. They can be browsed by date/language/jurisdiction, or searched.
1559 | Day's The Cosmographical Glass (United Kingdom) |
1559* | Day's privilege for The Cosmographical Glass (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1624* | Statute of Monopolies (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1643* | The Humble Remonstrance of the Stationers' Company (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1644 | Milton's Areopagitica (United Kingdom) |
1647 | Ordinance against Unlicensed or Scandalous Pamphlets (United Kingdom) |
1650s* | Vitré's memorandum on the prolongation of privileges (France) |
1663 | L'Estrange's Considerations and Proposals (United Kingdom) |
1690* | Locke's Second Treatise on Government (selected extracts) (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1690s* | Memorandum on the dispute between the Parisian and the provincial booksellers (France) Commentary: [1] |
1693 | Locke's Memorandum on the 1662 Act (United Kingdom) |
1695 | Reasons for objecting to the renewal of the Licensing Act (United Kingdom) |
1704* | Defoe's Essay on the Press (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1709 | Reasons Humbly Offer'd for the Bill for the Encouragement of Learning (United Kingdom) |
1710* | Statute of Anne (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1737* | Booksellers' Bill (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1737 | An Act for the Encouragement of Learning (Draft) (United Kingdom) |
1738* | Thurneysen: On the Illicit Reprinting of Books (Germany) Commentary: [1] |
1740* | Encyclopaedia Article on 'The Reprinting of Books' (Germany) Commentary: [1] |
1761 | Tonson v. Collins (United Kingdom) |
1762* | An Enquiry into Literary Property (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1762 | A Vindication of the Rights of Authors (United Kingdom) |
1763* | Diderot's Letter on the book trade (France) Commentary: [1] |
1766 | Blackstone's Commentaries, Vol.II (selected extracts) (United Kingdom) |
1773 | Information for Alexander Donaldson (United Kingdom) |
1774* | Donaldson v. Becket (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1774 | Hargrave's Argument in Defence of Literary Property (United Kingdom) |
1774 | Enfield's Observations (United Kingdom) |
1774 | Macauley's A Modest Plea (United Kingdom) |
1777* | Linguet's memorandum (France) Commentary: [1] |
1778* | Pluquet's letters (France) Commentary: [1] |
1781* | Andrew Law's Petition (United States) Commentary: [1] |
1783 | Letter from Joel Barlow to the Continental Congress (United States) |
1787* | Calico Printers' Act (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1787 | Calico Printers' Act (parchment copy) (United Kingdom) |
1791* | Le Chapelier's report (France) Commentary: [1] |
1801* | Copyright Act (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1801 | A Bill for the Further Encouragement of Learning (United Kingdom) |
1818 | Select Committee Report: Minutes of Evidence (United Kingdom) |
1826 | Letter from Noah Webster to Daniel Webster (United States) |
1828* | Maugham's Treatise (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1829 | Music publishers' agreement to ban reprinting (Germany) |
1830* | Amended music publishers' agreement against piracy (Germany) Commentary: [1] |
1831 | House Debate (United States) |
1832 | Select Committee Report: Dramatic Literature (United Kingdom) |
1832 | Parliamentary Debates on Drama and Dramatic Literature (31 May) (United Kingdom) |
1834* | Balzac's letter to authors (France) |
1834* | Wheaton v. Peters (United States) |
1834* | Wheaton v. Peters Independent Report (United States) |
1838 | Parliamentary Debates on the International Copyright Act (20 March) (United Kingdom) |
1838 | Report, from the Committee on Patents (United States) |
1838 | Memorial of the New York Typographical Society (United States) |
1841 | Parliamentary Debates on the Copyright Bill (5 Feb.) (United Kingdom) |
1841* | Report of Lamartine and parliamentary debates on literary property (France) |
1842* | Lowndes' Historical Sketch of the Law of Copyright (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1842 | Parliamentary Debates on the Copyright Act (9 May) (United Kingdom) |
1842 | Memorial of a Number of Persons Concerned in Printing and Publishing (United States) |
1843 | An Address to the People of the United States (United States) |
1847* | A Treatise on the Law of Copyright (United States) Commentary: [1] |
1848 | Jay, Bryant and Others' Memorials (United States) |
1852 | Parliamentary Debates on the International Copyright Act (13 Feb.) (United Kingdom) |
1853 | Letters on International copyright (United States) |
1853 | British-American Copyright Convention Draft (United States) |
1853 | 'Uncle Tom' at Law (United States) |
1854* | Jeffreys v. Boosey (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1858 | Report of the Artistic Copyright Committee (United Kingdom) |
1861 | Fine Art Copyright Bill (United Kingdom) |
1862* | Fine Art Copyright Act (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1862 | Parliamentary Debates on the Fine Art Copyright Act (28 Feb.) (United Kingdom) |
1862 | Fine Art Copyright Bill (27 Feb.) (United Kingdom) |
1862 | Fine Art Copyright Bill (20 March) (United Kingdom) |
1862 | Southern Feeling (United States) |
1863 | Hardee's Memorial (United States) |
1868* | Proudhon: 'Les Majorats littéraires' (France) |
1869 | Artistic Copyright Bill, London (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1870* | Copinger's Law of Copyright (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1872 | Correspondence and Papers on Colonial Copyright (United Kingdom) |
1873 | Committee on the Library Report (United States) |
1878* | Royal Commissioners' Report (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1878 | Royal Commission on Copyright: Minutes of Evidence (United Kingdom) |
1879 | Copyright Consolidation Bill (United Kingdom) |
1879 | Baker's Argument (United States) |
1883 | Sarony's Brief (United States) |
1883 | Burrow-Giles' Brief (United States) |
1885 | Carte v. Duff (United States) |
1886 | Committee on Patents Report (United States) |
1890 | Report on H.R. 10881 (United States) |
1896 | The Question of Copyright (United States) |
1899 | Artistic Copyright Bill, London (United Kingdom) |
1900 | Artistic Copyright Bill, London (United Kingdom) |