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.
1525 | Luther's 'Admonition to the Printers' (Germany) |
1545* | Venetian Decree on Author-Printer Relations (Italy) Commentary: [1] |
1676* | Decree on Sculptures (France) |
1691 | Pseudo-Vera Tassis: Fake edition II (Spain) |
1704* | Defoe's Essay on the Press (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1721* | Burnet v. Chetwood (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1721 | Burnet's Bill of Complaint and Chetwood's Answer (United Kingdom) |
1827* | Kramer: Rights of Writers and Publishers (Germany) Commentary: [1] |
1837 | Petition of British Authors (United States) |
1838 | Address of Certain Authors (United States) |
1838 | Memorial of a Number of Citizens of Boston (United States) |
1839 | Parliamentary Debates on the Copyright Bill (27 Feb.) (United Kingdom) |
1841* | Report of Lamartine and parliamentary debates on literary property (France) |
1841 | Parliamentary Debates on the Copyright Bill (29 Jan.) (United Kingdom) |
1841 | Parliamentary Debates on the Copyright Bill (5 Feb.) (United Kingdom) |
1848 | Jay, Bryant and Others' Memorials (United States) |
1868* | Proudhon: 'Les Majorats littéraires' (France) |
1902* | Court of Cassation on moral rights (France) Commentary: [1] |