PRIMARY SOURCES

ON COPYRIGHT

(1450-1900)

Ariosto's Printing Privilege, Venice (1515)

Source: Venetian State Archives: ASV, NC, reg. 18, c.23r.

Citation:
Ariosto's Printing Privilege, Venice (1515), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org

Back | Record | Images | No Commentaries
Record-ID: i_1515

Permanent link: https://copyrighthistory.org/cam/tools/request/showRecord.php?id=record_i_1515

Full title:
Ludovico Ariosto's Printing Privilege for the First Edition of Orlando Furioso

Full title original language:
N/A

Abstract:
This is an application by Ludovico Ariosto to the Venetian Collegio for exclusive rights to print and sell the first edition of his 'Orlando Furioso' (1516). The petition specifies the desired term of protection, which was to last for the duration of the poet's life, as well as a penalty for infringements of one thousand ducats, which was exceptionally high. This is one of a series of privileges which Ariosto obtained from various Italian states and France in order to extend his privilege coverage beyond one jurisdiction. His copyright was confirmed by the Venetian Senate in 1528 and in 1535, after his death, to his heirs. This case shows that the system of privileges could be a valuable instrument by which authors protected their rights and investments, though clearly designed for a restricted category of works composed by authors who were already well-known and could reckon with commercial and literary success.

Commentary: No commentaries for this record.

Bibliography:
  • Ariosto, Ludovico. Lettere. Edited by A. Stella. Milan: Mondatori, 1965.

  • Brand, Peter. Ludovico Ariosto: a preface to the "Orlando furioso." Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1974.

  • Catalano, Michele. Vita di Ludovico Ariosto: ricostruita su nuovi documenti, 2 volumes. Geneva: Olschki, 1930-31.

  • Fahy, Conor. L'"Orlando furioso" del 1532: profilo di una edizione. Milan: Vita e pensiero, 1989.

  • Masi, Giorgio. "Postilla sull'affaire Doni-Nesi: la questione del Dialogo della stampa." Studi italani 4 (1990): 41-54


Related documents in this database:
1486: Marco Antonio Sabellico's Printing Privilege
1498: Ottaviano Petrucci's Music Patent
1526: Papal and Venetian Privileges for Sigismondo Fanti's 'Triompho di Fortuna'

Author: N/A

Publisher: N/A

Year: 1515

Location: Venice

Language: Italian

Source: Venetian State Archives: ASV, NC, reg. 18, c.23r.

Persons referred to:
Ariosto, Ludovico
D'Este, Ippolito
Loredan, Leonardo

Places referred to:
Ferrara

Cases referred to:
N/A

Institutions referred to:
Venetian Collegio (cabinet of government), in the Doge's palace

Legislation:
Venetian printing privilege for Ariosto (1515)

Keywords:
authors' remuneration
duration
patronage
penalties, paid to author(s)
penalties, paid to fiscal authorities
privileges, Venetian
reprints

Responsible editor: Joanna Kostylo


Copyright History resource developed in partnership with:

Our Partners

Copyright statement

You may copy and distribute the translations and commentaries in this resource, or parts of such translations and commentaries, in any medium, for non-commercial purposes as long as the authorship of the commentaries and translations is acknowledged, and you indicate the source as Bently & Kretschmer (eds), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900) (www.copyrighthistory.org).

With the exception of commentaries that are available under a CC-BY licence (compliant with UKRI policy) you may not publish individual documents or parts of the database for any commercial purposes, including charging a fee for providing access to these documents via a network. This licence does not affect your statutory rights of fair dealing.

Although the original documents in this database are in the public domain, we are unable to grant you the right to reproduce or duplicate some of these documents in so far as the images or scans are protected by copyright or we have only been able to reproduce them here by giving contractual undertakings. For the status of any particular images, please consult the information relating to copyright in the bibliographic records.

Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900) is co-published by Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge, 10 West Road, Cambridge CB3 9DZ, UK and CREATe, School of Law, University of Glasgow, 10 The Square, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK