PRIMARY SOURCES

ON COPYRIGHT

(1450-1900)


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.


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All documents: Keyword authors' remuneration

Back | 94 results(* indicates core document)

1507* Eloy d'Amerval's privilege (France) Commentary: [1]
1515* Ariosto's Printing Privilege (Italy)
1525Luther's 'Admonition to the Printers' (Germany)
1526Papal and Venetian Privileges for Sigismondo Fanti's 'Triompho di Fortuna' (Italy)
1558Phayer's privilege for Virgil's Aeneid (United Kingdom)
1590* Giovanni Fratta's 'On the Dedication of Books' (Italy)
1667* Milton's Contract (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1]
1690s* Memorandum on the dispute between the Parisian and the provincial booksellers (France) Commentary: [1]
1725-1726* Pierre-Jacques Blondel's memorandum (France) Commentary: [1]
1725-1726* Louis d'Héricourt's memorandum (France) Commentary: [1]
1738* Thurneysen: On the Illicit Reprinting of Books (Germany) Commentary: [1]
1749* Crébillon case (France) Commentary: [1]
1759* Sieur d'Anville's contract (France) Commentary: [1]
1761Tonson v. Collins (United Kingdom)
1762* Royal declaration on privileges granted to inventors (France) Commentary: [1]
1762* An Enquiry into Literary Property (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1]
1762A Vindication of the Rights of Authors (United Kingdom)
1763* Diderot's Letter on the book trade (France) Commentary: [1]
1765Reich v. Pauli (Germany)
1772William Billings' Second Petition (United States)
1772William Billings' Printing Privilege (United States)
1774Enfield's Observations (United Kingdom)
1774Stella's Modest Exceptions (United Kingdom)
1777* French Decree of 30 August 1777, on the duration of privileges (France) Commentary: [1]
1777* Linguet's memorandum (France) Commentary: [1]
1778* Pluquet's letters (France) Commentary: [1]
1780Venetian Reprint of the French Decree of 30 August 1777, on the duration of privileges (Italy)
1780* Dramatic Act (France)
1781* Andrew Law's Petition (United States) Commentary: [1]
1781Andrew Law's Privilege (United States)
1782Letter from Smith to Webster (United States)
1783New Jersey Copyright Statute (United States)
1783New Hampshire Copyright Statute (United States)
1783Rhode Island Copyright Statute (United States)
1783Ledyard Petition Committee Report (United States)
1785North Carolina Copyright Statute (United States)
1786Georgia Copyright Statute (United States)
1786New York Copyright Statute (United States)
1788The Federalist No. 43 (United States)
1789* The Constitutional Copyright Clause (United States) Commentary: [1]
1789Ramsay's Petiton House Record (United States)
1789House Joint copyright and patent bill decision (United States)
1789Joint Copyright Patent Bill [H.R. 10] (United States)
1789Ramsay's Petition (United States)
1790* J.F.F. Ganz's draft for a general ban on reprinting within the whole Empire (Germany) Commentary: [1]
1790* Copyright Act (United States) Commentary: [1]
1791* Le Chapelier's report (France) Commentary: [1]
1791Beaumarchais's petition (France)
1793* Fichte: Proof of the Unlawfulness of Reprinting (Germany) Commentary: [1]
1793* French Literary and Artistic Property Act (France) Commentary: [1]
1794* Prussian Statute Book (ALR) (Germany) Commentary: [1]
1794* Contract between Schiller and Cotta (Germany)
1799Documents concerning the Models and Busts Act (United Kingdom)
1815* Annotated Publishers' Petition to the Congress of Vienna (Germany) Commentary: [1]
1826* Minutes of the 1825-1826 Commission (France)
1828* Maugham's Treatise (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1]
1828Letter from Peters to Donaldson (United States)
1832* Gans: On the right to perform published stage plays (Germany) Commentary: [1]
1832Select Committee Report: Dramatic Literature (United Kingdom)
1832Parliamentary Debates on Drama and Dramatic Literature (31 May) (United Kingdom)
1834* Balzac's letter to authors (France)
1837* Senate Report (United States)
1837Petition of British Authors (United States)
1837Debates in Congress (United States)
1838Parliamentary Debates on the Copyright Bill (25 April) (United Kingdom)
1838Parliamentary Debates on the Copyright Bill (9 May) (United Kingdom)
1838Address of Certain Authors (United States)
1838Report, from the Committee on Patents (United States)
1838Memorial of a Number of Citizens of Boston (United States)
1839Parliamentary Debates on the Copyright Bill (27 Feb.) (United Kingdom)
1839Parliamentary Debates on the Copyright Bill (1 May) (United Kingdom)
1840Parliamentary Debates on the Copyright Bill (14 Feb.) (United Kingdom)
1841* Report of Lamartine and parliamentary debates on literary property (France)
1841Parliamentary Debates on the Copyright Bill (5 Feb.) (United Kingdom)
1842* Court of Cassation on artistic property (France) Commentary: [1]
1842Parliamentary Debates on the Copyright Act (8 Feb.) (United Kingdom)
1842Parliamentary Debates on the Copyright Act (16 Mar.) (United Kingdom)
1842Parliamentary Debates on the Copyright Act (6 April) (United Kingdom)
1842Parliamentary Debates on the Copyright Act (9 May) (United Kingdom)
1846Expert Opinion on Schelling v. Paulus (Germany)
1847* A Treatise on the Law of Copyright (United States) Commentary: [1]
1848Jay, Bryant and Others' Memorials (United States)
1852Copyright and Natural Right (United States)
1853* Stowe v. Thomas (United States) Commentary: [1]
1853Stowe v. Thomas, Complainant's Bill (United States)
1853Stowe v. Thomas, Defendant's Answer (United States)
1853Affidavit of Harriet Beecher Stowe (United States)
1863Hardee's Memorial (United States)
1868* Proudhon: 'Les Majorats littéraires' (France)
1872Correspondence and Papers on Colonial Copyright (United Kingdom)
1874Correspondence respecting Colonial Copyright (United Kingdom)
1878Royal Commission on Copyright: Minutes of Evidence (United Kingdom)
1888American Authors and British Pirates (United States)
1890Report on H.R. 10881 (United States)