Primary Sources on Copyright

PRIMARY SOURCES

ON COPYRIGHT

(1450-1900)

Stationers Charter (1684) - Read more

Privilege of the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg, Würzburg (1479) - Read more

Rabbinic Reprinting Ban for Eliyahu Bakhur, Rome (1518) - Read more

Petition from and Privilege granted to Antonio Tempesta for a map of Rome (1593) - Read more

Documents concerning the Models and Busts Act, London (1799) - Read more

Oscar Wilde photograph, New York (1882) - Read more

Bleistein: Cartoon, Chicago (1903) - Read more

Johannes of Speyer's Printing Monopoly, Venice (1469) - Read more

Treaty of Peace between the United States and Spain, Madrid (1898) - Read more

French Literary and Artistic Property Act, Paris (1793) - Read more

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Millar v. Taylor, London (1769)

Source: Lincoln's Inn Library

Citation:
Millar v. Taylor, London (1769), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org

Back | Record | Images | Commentaries: [1]

Record-ID: uk_1769

Permanent link: https://copyrighthistory.org/cam/tools/request/showRecord.php?id=record_uk_1769

Full title:
Millar v. Taylor (1769) 4 Burr. 2303

Full title original language:
N/A

Abstract:
Decision of the Court of King's Bench providing that, regardless of the provisions of the Statute of Anne (uk_1710), an author enjoyed the exclusive right of publishing his work in perpetuity. Lord Mansfield, leading a majority decision of the court, provides a robust and influential justification as to the existence of an author's rights in literary property at common law. Yates, J., focussing upon the potential detriment to the public that would flow from the existence of a perpetual right, provides the dissenting opinion. The commentary explores the background to the litigation, in particular the nature of the threat which the Scottish reprint industry posed to the London book trade, relevant case-law leading up to the decision, as well as the substance of the judicial opinions.

1 Commentary:
commentary_uk_1769

Bibliography:

Walters, G., 'The Booksellers in 1759 and 1774: The Battle for Literary Property', The Library, 5th ser., 29 (1974): 287-311
McDougall, W., 'Scottish books for America in the mid 18th Century'. In Spreading the Word: The Distribution Networks of Print 155-1850. Edited by Myers, R., and Harris, M. (Winchester: St. Paul's Bibliographies, 1990), 21-46
McDougall, W., 'Copyright Litigation in the Court of Session, 1738-1749, and the Rise of the Scottish Book Trade', Transactions, 5 (1988): 2-31
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)