PRIMARY SOURCES

ON COPYRIGHT

(1450-1900)

Statute of Anne, London (1710)

Source: scanned from the parchment copy in the UK Parliamentary Archives

Citation:
Statute of Anne, London (1710), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org

Back | Record | Images | Commentaries: [1]
Record-ID: uk_1710

Permanent link: https://copyrighthistory.org/cam/tools/request/showRecord.php?id=record_uk_1710

Full title:
An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by Vesting the Copies of Printed Books in the Authors or Purchasers of such Copies, During the Times therein mentioned, 1710, 8 Anne, c.19

Full title original language:
N/A

Abstract:
Legislation conferring exclusive rights upon the author of books not yet printed or published for a period of 14 years and for a further 14 years if the author was still alive at the end of the first period. The legislation also provided the same rights for the authors or owners of books already in print for a single 21 year term. The commentary describes the background to the Act detailing the manner in which the legislation was amended as it passed through parliament, and highlights particular flaws in the drafting. It argues that, although the Act sought to both secure the interests of the Stationers while at the same time regulating the general operation of the book trade, the primary concern of the legislature lay in the encouragement and advancement of learning.

1 Commentary:
commentary_uk_1710

Bibliography:
  • Rose, M., Authors and Owners: The Invention of Copyright (London: Harvard University Press, 1993)

  • Patterson, L.R., Copyright in Historical Perspective (Nashville: Vanderbilt University, 1968)

  • Feather, J., Publishing, Piracy and Politics: an historical study of copyright in Britain (London: Mansell, 1994)

  • Deazley, R.,On the Origin of the Right to Copy: Charting the Movement of Copyright Law in Eighteenth Century Britain, 1695-1775 (Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2004)


Related documents in this database:
1706: Reasons Humbly Offer'd for the Bill for the Encouragement of Learning
1709: Reasons Humbly Offer'd for the Bill for the Encouragement of Learning
1709: More Reasons Humbly Offer'd for the Bill for the Encouragement of Learning
1709: Reasons Humbly Offer'd to the Consideration of the Honourable House of Commons
1710: A Bill for Encouragement of Learning
1790: Copyright Act

Author: N/A

Publisher: N/A

Year: 1710

Location: London

Language: English

Source: scanned from the parchment copy in the UK Parliamentary Archives

Persons referred to:
Anne

Places referred to:
Cambridge
Edinburgh
England
Great Britain
Oxford
Scotland
Westminster

Cases referred to:
N/A

Institutions referred to:
Bodleian Library, Oxford
Court of Exchequer, England
Faculty of Advocates, Edinburgh
Parliament
See of Canterbury
See of London
Sion College, London
Stationers' Company
Stationers' Hall
University of Cambridge
University of Edinburgh
University of Glasgow
University of King's College, Aberdeen
University of Oxford
University of St Andrews

Legislation:
Statute of Anne, 1710, 8 Anne, c.19

Keywords:
Stationers' Company
deposit
duration
learning, the advancement of
newspapers
price regulation
property theory
registration
taxation
unpublished works

Responsible editor: Ronan Deazley


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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