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 penalties, paid to author(s)

Back | 44 results(* indicates core document)

1504* Privilege Granted to Benedetto Bordon (Italy)
1515* Ariosto's Printing Privilege (Italy)
1526Papal and Venetian Privileges for Sigismondo Fanti's 'Triompho di Fortuna' (Italy)
1545* Venetian Decree on Author-Printer Relations (Italy) Commentary: [1]
1545* Antonio Catalano's Teaching Licence (Italy)
1546* Privilege Granted to Enea Vico (Parmigiano) (Italy)
1556 (1555 m.v.)* Privilege Granted to Antonio Floriano (Italy)
1556* Privilege Granted to Giovanni Ostaus (Italy)
1658* Schupp: The Book Thief (Germany) Commentary: [1]
1749* Crébillon case (France) Commentary: [1]
1770* Luneau de Boisjermain's case (France)
1772William Billings' Printing Privilege (United States)
1783* Connecticut Copyright Statute (United States) Commentary: [1]
1783Massachusetts Copyright Statute (United States)
1783New Jersey Copyright Statute (United States)
1783Rhode Island Copyright Statute (United States)
1784Pennsylvania Copyright Statute (United States)
1784South Carolina Copyright Statute (United States)
1785Imperial privilege for Aloysius Blumauer's Travesty of Virgil's 'Aeneid' (Germany)
1785Virginia Copyright Statute (United States)
1785North Carolina Copyright Statute (United States)
1786Georgia Copyright Statute (United States)
1786New York Copyright Statute (United States)
1790* Copyright Act (United States) Commentary: [1]
1791* Le Chapelier's report (France) Commentary: [1]
1793* French Literary and Artistic Property Act (France) Commentary: [1]
18021802 Amendment (United States)
1814* Court of Cassation on sculptures (France) Commentary: [1]
1828H.R. 140 Consolidated Bill (United States)
1830Dramatic Writings Bill (United Kingdom)
1833* Dramatic Literary Property Act (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1]
1837* Prussian Copyright Act (Germany) Commentary: [1]
1840* Bilateral Treaty between Austria and Sardinia (Germany) Commentary: [1]
1841* Report of Lamartine and parliamentary debates on literary property (France)
1853* Bluntschli: On Authors' Rights (Germany) Commentary: [1]
1856* Copyright Act Amendment (United States) Commentary: [1]
1857Return of Colonies and British Possessions on Importation of Reprints (United Kingdom)
1861Fine Art Copyright Bill (United Kingdom)
1862Parliamentary Debates on the Fine Art Copyright Act (20 March) (United Kingdom)
1862Fine Art Copyright Bill (27 Feb.) (United Kingdom)
1862Fine Art Copyright Bill (20 March) (United Kingdom)
1870* Copyright Act for the German Empire (Germany) Commentary: [1]
1878Royal Commission on Copyright: Minutes of Evidence (United Kingdom)
1884Bilateral treaty between Switzerland and France (Germany)