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.
1485 | Censorship Edict of the Archbishop of Mainz (Germany) |
1501* | Imperial Senate privilege to the Sodalitas Celtica (Germany) Commentary: [1] |
1538* | Henrician Proclamation (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1546* | Privilege Granted to Enea Vico (Parmigiano) (Italy) Commentary: [1] |
1547* | French Censorship Act (France) Commentary: [1] |
1556 (1555 m.v.)* | Privilege Granted to Antonio Floriano (Italy) Commentary: [1] |
1556* | Privilege Granted to Giovanni Ostaus (Italy) Commentary: [1] |
1559* | Elizabethan Injunctions (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1559* | Day's privilege for The Cosmographical Glass (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1586* | Star Chamber Decree (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1590* | Giovanni Fratta's 'On the Dedication of Books' (Italy) |
1598 | Frankfurt Printers' Ordinance (Germany) |
1603* | Venetian Decree on Privileges for New Books and Reprints (Italy) |
1624* | Statute of Monopolies (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1637* | Star Chamber Decree (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1673 | Nuremberg Printers' Ordinance (Germany) |
1684* | Renewed Swedish Censorship Laws (Scandinavia) Commentary: [1] |
1690 | Amendment to the Frankfurt Printers' Ordinance (Germany) |
1693 | Locke's Memorandum on the 1662 Act (United Kingdom) |
1701* | Royal letters patent (France) Commentary: [1] |
1713 | Augsburg Printers' Ordinance (Germany) |
1721 | Printer Joachim Wielandt's Privilege for Popular Chapbooks, Denmark–Norway (Scandinavia) Commentary: [1] |
1724* | Electoral Saxon Printing and Censorship Acts from 1549 to 1717 (Germany) Commentary: [1] |
1725-1726* | Louis d'Héricourt's memorandum (France) Commentary: [1] |
1763* | Diderot's Letter on the book trade (France) Commentary: [1] |
1770 | Abolishment of Censorship (Scandinavia) Commentary: [1] |
1771 | Rescript Limiting the Freedom Allowed by the 1770 Legislation (Scandinavia) Commentary: [1] |
1773 | Rescript on Post-Publication Censorship (Scandinavia) Commentary: [1] |
1785* | Austrian Statutes on Censorship and Printing (Germany) Commentary: [1] |
1799* | Renewed Censorship Legislation, Denmark–Norway (Scandinavia) |
1810 | Swedish Freedom of the Press Ordinance (Scandinavia) Commentary: [1] |
1812* | Swedish Freedom of the Press Ordinance (Scandinavia) |
1841 | Swedish Ordinance on the Limitation of Terms of Protection (Scandinavia) Commentary: [1] |