PRIMARY SOURCES

ON COPYRIGHT

(1450-1900)

J.F.F. Ganz's draft for a general ban on reprinting within the whole Empire, Mainz and Fulda (1790)

Source: Retrospektive Digitalisierung wissenschaftlicher Rezensionsorgane und Literaturzeitschriften des 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts aus dem deutschen Sprachraum, http://www.ub.uni-bielefeld.de/diglib/aufklaerung/index.htm.

Citation:
J.F.F. Ganz's draft for a general ban on reprinting within the whole Empire, Mainz and Fulda (1790), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org

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Record-ID: d_1790b

Permanent link: https://copyrighthistory.org/cam/tools/request/showRecord.php?id=record_d_1790b

Full title:
A brief outline of the reasons for the harmfulness of reprinting for literature, the book trade, and the reading public in the German Empire, as published in the 'Journal von und für Deutschland' (1790) 404-415

Full title original language:
Kurze Übersicht der Gründe der Schädlichkeit des Büchernachdrucks für die Litteratur. den Buchhandel, und das lesende Publikum im Deutschen Reiche nebst Vorschlägen, dieses Uebel durch eine zweckmäßige Verfügung in der zukünftigen Kaiserlichen Wahlkapitulation von Grund aus zu heben. Junius 1790

Abstract:
This article by Johann Friedrich Ferdinand Ganz, a Prussian Councillor at the Permanent Imperial Diet (Immerwährender Reichstag) in Regensburg is one of a number of publications addressing plans for the first general reprinting ban which, it was hoped, would cover the whole territory of the Empire. His article explains the detrimental effects of reprinting; gives reasons as to why a general protection had not yet been brought forward; and presents a draft version for such a ban, binding the local sovereigns to protect citizens of other German lands within their territories. The death of Emperor Joseph II in 1790 and the well-known sympathy of his younger brother and successor Leopold II for constitutional ideas and modern trade policies had raised expectations that such a ban on reprinting might be included within the so-called Electoral Capitulation (Wahlkapitulation), a kind of contract between the Emperor-elect and the electors which was traditionally drawn up at the beginning of each new Emperor's reign. Eventually, however, Ganz's proposal was turned down. This commentary will look at the economic view of the book, which is expressed in the arguments put forward by Ganz, and it will also consider the counter-arguments made by a reprinter who wrote a pseudonymous riposte to Ganz's article.

1 Commentary:
commentary_d_1790b

Bibliography:
  • Vogel, Martin. 'Deutsche Urheber- und Verlagsrechtsgeschichte zwischen 1450 und 1850. Sozial und methodengeschchtliche Entwicklungsstufen der Rechte von Schriftsteller und Verleger', Archiv für Geschichte des Buchwesens 19, nr 1 (1978): 1-180

  • Meyer, Steffen-Werner. 'Bemühungen um ein Reichsgesetz gegen den Büchernachdruck. Anläßlich der Wahlkapitulation Leopolds II. aus dem Jahre 1790' (Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 2004)


Related documents in this database:
1790: J.F.F. Ganz's draft for a general ban of reprinting [extended version]
1794: Prussian Statute Book (ALR)

Author: N.N. [Johann Friedrich Ferdinand Ganz]

Publisher: Siegmund von Bibra

Year: 1790

Location: Mainz and Fulda

Language: German

Source: Retrospektive Digitalisierung wissenschaftlicher Rezensionsorgane und Literaturzeitschriften des 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts aus dem deutschen Sprachraum, http://www.ub.uni-bielefeld.de/diglib/aufklaerung/index.htm.

Persons referred to:
Becker, Rudolph Zacharias
Charles V of Habsburg
Gerstlacher, Carl Friedrich
Joseph II
Kayser, Albrecht Christoph
Maximilian II
Pütter, Johann Stephan
Rudolf II of Habsburg
Sonnenfels, Joseph von

Places referred to:
'Northern Germany'
'Southern Germany'
Brabant
Frankfurt
Göttingen
Regensburg
Reutlingen
Switzerland
Vienna

Cases referred to:
N/A

Institutions referred to:
Appeals Council (Supplikationsrat) of the H.R.E.
Aulic Council (Reichshofrat) of the H.R.E. (Vienna)
College of Electors (Kurfürstliches Kollegium)
Imperial Circles (Reichskreise)
Imperial Commission for [University] Studies and Censorship, based in Vienna
Imperial Exchequer (Reichsfiskal)
Imperial Supreme Court (Reichskammergericht, Wetzlar)

Legislation:
Golden Bull of Brabant 1349
Imperial Charter (Reichspatent) 1746
Imperial Statute Book (Reichspolizeiordnung) 1577
Peace of Westphalia 1649

Keywords:
authors' remuneration
barter trade
book fairs
book market
book trade
customs
foreign reprints
free trade
importation
incentives
interest groups
libraries
lobbying
monopoly
novelty
penalties
piracy
price regulation
privileges, German Imperial
property analogies
public good
reciprocity
remedies
reprints
royalty/royalties
scholarly writing
societies, publishers'
subscription
taxation

Responsible editor: Friedemann Kawohl


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