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.
1783 | Petition of John Ledyard (United States) |
1813 | Select Committee Report: Minutes of Evidence (United Kingdom) |
1818 | Select Committee Report: Minutes of Evidence (United Kingdom) |
1826 | Letter from Noah Webster to Daniel Webster (United States) |
1837* | Senate Report (United States) |
1837 | Petition of British Authors (United States) |
1837 | Debates in Congress (United States) |
1838 | Address of Certain Authors (United States) |
1838 | Report, from the Committee on Patents (United States) |
1838 | Memorial of the New York Typographical Society (United States) |
1838 | Memorial of a Number of Citizens of Boston (United States) |
1842* | Lowndes' Historical Sketch of the Law of Copyright (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1842 | Memorial of a Number of Persons Concerned in Printing and Publishing (United States) |
1847* | Foreign Reprints Act (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1848 | Jay, Bryant and Others' Memorials (United States) |
1852 | Parliamentary Debates on the International Copyright Act (13 Feb.) (United Kingdom) |
1852 | Copyright and Natural Right (United States) |
1853 | Letters on International copyright (United States) |
1853 | British-American Copyright Convention Draft (United States) |
1854* | Jeffreys v. Boosey (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1862 | Southern Feeling (United States) |
1870* | Copinger's Law of Copyright (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1870 | Committee Report on S.703 (United States) |
1872 | Correspondence and Papers on Colonial Copyright (United Kingdom) |
1873 | Committee on the Library Report (United States) |
1874 | Correspondence respecting Colonial Copyright (United Kingdom) |
1878* | Royal Commissioners' Report (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1878 | Royal Commission on Copyright: Minutes of Evidence (United Kingdom) |
1885 | Carte v. Duff (United States) |
1886* | International Copyright Act (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1886 | Correspondence respecting the Copyright Union (United Kingdom) |
1886 | Committee on Patents Report (United States) |
1888 | American Authors and British Pirates (United States) |
1890 | Report on H.R. 10881 (United States) |
1896 | Hearing on H.R. 5976 (United States) |
1896 | The Question of Copyright (United States) |