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.
| 1738* | Thurneysen: On the Illicit Reprinting of Books (Germany) Commentary: [1] |
| 1830* | Amended music publishers' agreement against piracy (Germany) Commentary: [1] |
| 1837* | Senate Report (United States) |
| 1837 | Petition of British Authors (United States) |
| 1838* | Remarks on Literary Property (Spain) |
| 1838* | International Copyright Act (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
| 1838 | Parliamentary Debates on the International Copyright Act (20 March) (United Kingdom) |
| 1838 | Parliamentary Debates on the International Copyright Act (19 July) (United Kingdom) |
| 1838 | Address of Certain Authors (United States) |
| 1840* | Bilateral Treaty between Austria and Sardinia (Germany) Commentary: [1] |
| 1841* | Report of Lamartine and parliamentary debates on literary property (France) |
| 1842* | Lowndes' Historical Sketch of the Law of Copyright (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
| 1846* | Bilateral Treaty between Prussia and Britain (Germany) Commentary: [1] |
| 1847* | Literary Property Act (Spain) Commentary: [1] |
| 1851 | Anglo-French Copyright Treaty (United Kingdom) |
| 1852* | French International Copyright Act (France) |
| 1852* | International Copyright Act (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
| 1852 | Parliamentary Debates on the International Copyright Act (13 Feb.) (United Kingdom) |
| 1853 | Bilateral Treaty between Hamburg and Great Britain (Germany) |
| 1853 | Letters on International copyright (United States) |
| 1853 | British-American Copyright Convention Draft (United States) |
| 1853 | 'Uncle Tom' at Law (United States) |
| 1854* | Franco-Spanish Bilateral Copyright Treaty (Spain) |
| 1857* | Anglo-Spanish Copyright Treaty (Spain) Commentary: [1] |
| 1858 | Report of the Artistic Copyright Committee (United Kingdom) |
| 1862* | Fine Art Copyright Act (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
| 1868* | Colonial Copyright Extensions (Spain) Commentary: [1] |
| 1872 | Correspondence and Papers on Colonial Copyright (United Kingdom) |
| 1876* | Copyright Acts for the German Empire regarding works of art, photography, and designs (Germany) Commentary: [1] |
| 1878* | Royal Commissioners' Report (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
| 1878 | Royal Commission on Copyright: Minutes of Evidence (United Kingdom) |
| 1879* | Copyright Act (Spain) Commentary: [1] |
| 1880 | Franco-Spanish Bilateral Copyright Treaty (Spain) |
| 1880 | Anglo-Spanish Bilateral Copyright Treaty (Spain) |
| 1884 | Bilateral treaty between Switzerland and France (Germany) |
| 1884* | Bilateral Copyright Treaty between Spain and El Salvador (Spain) Commentary: [1] |
| 1886 | Correspondence respecting the Copyright Union (United Kingdom) |
| 1888 | The International Copyright Bill (United States) |
| 1890 | Report on H.R. 10881 (United States) |
| 1891* | International Copyright Act (The Chace Act) (United States) |
| 1892* | Bilateral treaty between the German Reich and the U.S.A. (Germany) Commentary: [1] |
| 1896 | The Question of Copyright (United States) |
| 1898* | Treaty of Peace between the United States and Spain (Spain) Commentary: [1] |
