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.
1545* | Luther's 'Warning to the Printers' (Germany) Commentary: [1] |
1586* | Simon Marion's plea on privileges (France) Commentary: [1] |
1658* | Schupp: The Book Thief (Germany) Commentary: [1] |
1690* | Locke's Second Treatise on Government (selected extracts) (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1690s* | Memorandum on the dispute between the Parisian and the provincial booksellers (France) Commentary: [1] |
1704* | Defoe's Essay on the Press (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1725-1726* | Louis d'Héricourt's memorandum (France) Commentary: [1] |
1738* | Thurneysen: On the Illicit Reprinting of Books (Germany) Commentary: [1] |
1740* | Encyclopaedia Article on 'The Reprinting of Books' (Germany) Commentary: [1] |
1762* | Tonson v. Collins (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1763* | Diderot's Letter on the book trade (France) Commentary: [1] |
1765* | Philipp Erasmus Reich and the Leipzig publishers' cartel (Germany) Commentary: [1] |
1776* | Gaultier's memorandum for the provincial booksellers (France) Commentary: [1] |
1777* | Linguet's memorandum (France) Commentary: [1] |
1778* | Pluquet's letters (France) Commentary: [1] |
1785* | Kant: On the Unlawfulness of Reprinting (Germany) Commentary: [1] |
1790* | J.F.F. Ganz's draft for a general ban on reprinting within the whole Empire (Germany) Commentary: [1] |
1790* | Copyright Act (United States) Commentary: [1] |
1793* | Fichte: Proof of the Unlawfulness of Reprinting (Germany) Commentary: [1] |
1815* | Annotated Publishers' Petition to the Congress of Vienna (Germany) Commentary: [1] |
1821* | Hegel: Remarks on Intellectual Property (Germany) Commentary: [1] |
1826* | Minutes of the 1825-1826 Commission (France) |
1827* | Kramer: Rights of Writers and Publishers (Germany) Commentary: [1] |
1828* | Maugham's Treatise (United Kingdom) Commentary: [1] |
1834* | Balzac's letter to authors (France) |
1834* | Wheaton v. Peters (United States) |
1834* | Wheaton v. Peters Independent Report (United States) |
1837* | Senate Report (United States) |
1841* | Report of Lamartine and parliamentary debates on literary property (France) |
1847* | A Treatise on the Law of Copyright (United States) Commentary: [1] |
1857* | Wächter: 'Publishing Right' (Germany) Commentary: [1] |
1868* | Proudhon: 'Les Majorats littéraires' (France) |
1880* | Kohler: Author's Right (Germany) Commentary: [1] |