PRIMARY SOURCES

ON COPYRIGHT

(1450-1900)

Report of François Hell to the National Assembly, Paris (1791)

Source: Bibliothèque nationale de France: LE29-1208

Citation:
Report of François Hell to the National Assembly, Paris (1791), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org

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Record-ID: f_1791a

Permanent link: https://copyrighthistory.org/cam/tools/request/showRecord.php?id=record_f_1791a

Full title:
Report to the National Assembly, by Mr. Hell, Deputy of the Bas-Rhin, on the property of scientific and literary productions

Full title original language:
N/A

Abstract:
Following complaints from the book trade in 1790 and 1791, François Hell, deputy (of the National Assembly) for the Bas-Rhin, and member of the Committee on Agriculture and Commerce, was charged with elaborating a new “scientific” and literary property report and bill (“projet de décret”), a task which would also be submitted to the consultation of the Committee on the Constitution, before finally being lost. Although this proposal has eventually raised less attention than for the previous Sieyès attempt to regulate circulation of books (f_1790), it remains that it enshrined literary property in absolute terms which were also directly affiliated to the debates of the Ancien Régime, including, to some extent, the solutions adopted by the 1777 decrees (f_1777a). After exploring how such a radical projet made his way through the Committees, the commentary details how literary property, after being protected by book trade privileges, had now to be fully secured by the law, with a broad spectrum of protection for every kind of book, supposedly to the benefit for both the authors (and their assignees) and the general interest.

1 Commentary:
commentary_f_1791a

Bibliography:
N/A

Related documents in this database:
1790: Sieyès' report

Author: François Hell

Publisher: Imprimerie Nationale

Year: 1791

Location: Paris

Language: French

Source: Bibliothèque nationale de France: LE29-1208

Persons referred to:
Bruyset, Jean-Marie
De Bomare, Valmont
Hell, François
Salinelles, Meynier

Places referred to:
France

Cases referred to:
N/A

Institutions referred to:
Committee of Agriculture & Trade
Constitutional Committee of the French National Assembly
National Assembly (1789-1791)

Legislation:
French law of 13 January 1791, concerning the works of living playwrights

Keywords:
counterfeit
dramatic works, protected subject matter
engravings, protected subject matter
foreign reprints
inheritability
penalties
privileges, printing
property theory, authors' property
property theory, publishers' property
registration
transferability
translations, protection of

Responsible editor: Frédéric Rideau


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