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.




Core documents: Keyword books, protected subject matter

Back | 61 results(* indicates core document)

1479* Privilege of the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg (Germany) Commentary: [1]
1501* Imperial Senate privilege to the Sodalitas Celtica (Germany) Commentary: [1]
1504* Privilege Granted to Benedetto Bordon (Italy)
1507* Eloy d'Amerval's privilege (France) Commentary: [1]
1511* Imperial Privilege for Arnolt Schlick (Germany) Commentary: [1]
1513* Imperial privilege for Eucharius Rösslin (Germany) Commentary: [1]
1531* Basel Printers' Statute (Germany) Commentary: [1]
1550* Rema Ruling re: Maharam of Padua (Jewish Law) Commentary: [1]
1554* Royal Charter for Licensing (Spain) Commentary: [1]
1556* Privilege Granted to Giovanni Ostaus (Italy)
1559* Privilege for printing music for the Indies (Spain) Commentary: [1]
1559* Pérez v. Fernández de Córdoba (Spain)
1559* Day's privilege for The Cosmographical Glass (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1]
1596* Total Ban on Book Imports, Denmark–Norway (Scandinavia)
1643* Establishment of the First Printing House in Norway (Scandinavia)
1660* Frankfurt Printers' Ordinance (Germany) Commentary: [1]
1684* Renewed Swedish Censorship Laws (Scandinavia) Commentary: [1]
1738* Thurneysen: On the Illicit Reprinting of Books (Germany) Commentary: [1]
1762* Free Trade Regulations (Spain)
1766* The Swedish Freedom of the Press Ordinance (Scandinavia) Commentary: [1]
1783* Connecticut Copyright Statute (United States) Commentary: [1]
1790* Copyright Act (United States) Commentary: [1]
1793* French Literary and Artistic Property Act (France) Commentary: [1]
1794* Prussian Statute Book (ALR) (Germany) Commentary: [1]
1801* Copyright Act (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1]
1814* Court of Cassation on sculptures (France) Commentary: [1]
1814* Copyright Act (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1]
1826* Minutes of the 1825-1826 Commission (France)
1827* Treaties on reciprocal protection between Prussia and various German States (Germany) Commentary: [1]
1831* Copyright Act (United States) Commentary: [1]
1835* Sofer Responsum on Vilna-Slavuta Talmud Dispute (Jewish Law) Commentary: [1]
1837* Prussian Copyright Act (Germany) Commentary: [1]
1837* Directive for reciprocal copyright protection within the German Confederation (Germany) Commentary: [1]
1840* Bilateral Treaty between Austria and Sardinia (Germany) Commentary: [1]
1841* Report of Lamartine and parliamentary debates on literary property (France)
1842* Copyright Act (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1]
1844* Saxon Copyright Act (Germany) Commentary: [1]
1844* International Copyright Act (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1]
1846* Bilateral Treaty between Prussia and Great Britain (Germany) Commentary: [1]
1846* Austrian Copyright Act (Germany) Commentary: [1]
1847* Literary Property Act (Spain) Commentary: [1]
1848* Copyright Formalities: Registration (Spain)
1852* International Copyright Act (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1]
1853* Bluntschli: On Authors' Rights (Germany) Commentary: [1]
1857* Wächter: 'Publishing Right' (Germany) Commentary: [1]
1861* Confederate States of America Copyright Act (United States)
1865* Copyright Act Amendment (United States)
1866* Literary and artistic property act (France)
1868* Proudhon: 'Les Majorats littéraires' (France)
1870* Copyright Act for the German Empire (Germany) Commentary: [1]
1870* Copinger's Law of Copyright (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1]
1870* Copyright Act (United States)
1877* Gareis: Juridical Nature of Author's Rights (Germany) Commentary: [1]
1877* Swedish Copyright Act (Scandinavia) Commentary: [1]
1878* Morillot on the author's right (France)
1878* Spanish Copyright Formalities: Certificates (Spain)
1878* Royal Commissioners' Report (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1]
1879* Baker v. Selden (United States) Commentary: [1]
1885* First Inscriptions of Works at the Spanish Copyright Office (Spain)
1886* International Copyright Act (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1]
1892* Bilateral treaty between the German Reich and the U.S.A. (Germany) Commentary: [1]