# Primary Sources on Copyright - Record Viewer
Royal declaration on privileges granted to inventors, Paris (1762)

Source: Bibliothèque nationale de France : Mss. Fr. 22073 n°72

Citation:
Royal declaration on privileges granted to inventors, Paris (1762), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org

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            Chapter 1 Page 1 of 4 total

DECLARATION

OF THE KING,

Concerning trade privileges.

                  24th December 1762.

      Louis, by the grace of God, King of France
and of Navarre. To all who read this declaration,
greetings.Trade privileges, whose purpose is to
reward the skills of inventors, or to stimulate
those skills which languish in a period of unmatched
competition, do not always have the success which
might be expected of them, either because these
privileges, granted for unlimited periods, seem to
be a hereditary patrimony rather than a personal
recompense for the inventor, or else because the
privilege can often be transferred to persons who
lack the necessary ability, or else because the
young successors and beneficiaries of the privilege
holder, called by the law to the enjoyment of the
privilege, neglect to acquire the necessary skills;
the failure to exercise these privileges can have
all the more disadvantages, since they undermine
freedom, without providing the public with the
resources which it should expect; finally the lack
of publicity of privilege title deeds often allows
the privilege holder to extend his right and abuse
the industry and skills of our subjects. FOR THESE
REASONS, and for others known to us, with our
certain knowledge, full power and royal authority,

    

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