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Sovereign Decree on the Book trade and the property of Literary Works, The Hague (1814)
Source: Bijzondere Collecties, Universiteitsbibliotheek van Amsterdam, Bibliotheek van het Boekenvak, archief KVB, inv. nr. KVB A 174
Citation:
Sovereign Decree on the Book trade and the property of Literary Works, The Hague (1814), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org
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4 translated pages
Chapter 1 Page 1
BULLETIN OF ACTS, ORDERS AND DECREES
OF THE
UNITED NETHERLANDS.
(No. 17) DECREE of 24th January 1814, No. 1, holding provisions concerning the Book trade and the property of Literary Works.
We WILLIAM I, by the grace of GOD, Prince of Orange-Nassau, Sovereign of the United Netherlands, etc., etc., etc.
Considering that the Acts and Regulations, concerning the Book printing and the Book trade,
introduced in these Urban Districts by the French administration, not only caused a most injurious obstruction for the Book trade, but also served to suppress freedom of the press completely, to prevent the progress of enlightenment, and to submit all to an arbitrary censorship, utterly contrary to the liberal way of thinking which each right-minded Dutchman holds in the highest of esteems, and which always has characterized the Government of these Lands;
Furthermore taking into consideration, that, before the annexation of these Lands by France, Acts were in force, the purpose of which was to reserve to every Writer and Publisher his lawful right of property, and that the restoration of these Acts (separately contained in the Official Publication of 3rd June 1803), in any case must be deemed necessary in the spirit of the present order of things;
Heard the recommendation of our Commissioner-General of the Interior;
Have decided and decreed:
Art. 1. The French Acts and Regulations, relating to the Book printing and the Book trade, including those which concern the Newspapers, as of this day, are abolished in full.
2. Consequently, the Inspectors of the Book printing and the Book trade are honourably discharged of their posts.
Chapter 1 Page 2
(2)
3. Similarly, the tax resulting from the aforesaid French Acts and Regulations, for the benefit of the general management fund of the Book trade, is abolished on this day; our Commissioner-General of the Interior will be responsible for the liquidation arising therefrom.
4. Everyone is responsible for that which he writes, prints, or publishes; if the author is unknown, or cannot be identified, the Printer alone is liable.
5. Each piece, which is published without the name of the writer or printer, and no indication of the time and place of publication, will be taken to be a piece of libel, and the publisher or distributor thereof may be persecuted as a parody writer.
6. Anyone who publishes an original work, be it all at once, or in volumes or parts, of which he lawfully owns the copyright as Creator, or otherwise, hereby obtains, for himself and his heirs, the exclusive right to publish that Work, if in all complying with the provisions reported in the following articles.
7. Accordingly, it is expressly prohibited to in any way copy and sell such original Work, or to import, distribute, or sell those copied outside the United Netherlands, on penalty of seizure of all unsold copies of the copying available, within this Kingdom, for the benefit of the owner of the original print, as well as payment to the same owner of the value of three hundred copies of the real print, calculated according to the booksellers price.
8. Under the same penalties as are provided in the aforementioned- art. 7, is likewise prohibited the distribution or selling of any translation, abridgement or expansion of an original Work published in the United Netherlands, unless with the written permission of the owner thereof. However, excepted from this are the abstract, reviews, notices, etc., which are communicated to the public in Journals.
9. Prohibited as well, on penalty as laid down in art. 7, is the copying of the Low German translation of a Work published outside these Lands, or the selling of a different Low German translation of the same work within the first three years of the publication of the first translation.
10. Excepted from the right of property are the Greek and Roman classical writers, as far as the text is concerned,
Chapter 1 Page 3
(3)
furthermore also Bibles, Psalm, Church, and School books, of which nobody owns the copyright, as well as all regular Agendas and Almanacs; however, the copying of all that which any Publisher of an Almanac may have attached to increase the utility, for convenience, or adornment thereof, remains prohibited.
Anyone who intends to notify the public of a translation of a Foreign Work, in any language, and to reserve himself the ownership thereof, will be held to:
a. present a copy of the original work to the Municipality of his residence, on which title page shall then be written, without payment of costs, in name of that same Municipality:
Presented the ( ) by N.N. for translation into the language N.N., to the Municipality of N.N.
Witnessed by me,
N.N.
b. to announce his intention to publish such a translation, and the time at which the original work was presented by him to the Municipality of his residence, three times, in the newspaper of his residence, or failing that, in the newspaper of the town closest by.
c. Within the term of six months of the aforesaid presentation of the original work, present six whole printing sheets of the announced translation to the Municipality of his residence, and then advertise this in the Newspaper also reported in b.
12. Of all printed Works, by whatever name, shall be submitted, prior to the publication, three copies (which, inasmuch as these hold more than a hundred pages, will have to be bound), to the Home Office; its usage shall be decided on later; and also included under these provisions are all Newspapers and periodical Works, Maps, and Pictures.
13. Of original works, as well as translations, published prior to the date of this Decree, the right of property provided in art. 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 is granted to anyone who can prove to possess it; he should,
Chapter 1 Page 4
(4)
with a new publication, adhere to that which has been laid down in art. 11 and 12.
14. A list of the Works received by the Home Office will be made public weekly in the Bulletin of Acts, Orders and Decrees.
15. The present Decree shall be entered into the Bulletin of Acts and Decrees.
Enacted at The Hague, the 24th of January of the year 1814, and the first of Our Reign.
(Signed) WILLIAM I
In name of His Royal Highness,
The General Secretary of State,
(Signed) A.R. Falck.
Translation by: Miluska Kooij
Source: Bijzondere Collecties, Universiteitsbibliotheek van Amsterdam, Bibliotheek van het Boekenvak, archief KVB, inv. nr. KVB A 174
Citation:
Sovereign Decree on the Book trade and the property of Literary Works, The Hague (1814), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org
Back | Record | Images | No Commentaries
Translation only | Transcription only | Show all | Bundled images as pdf
4 translated pages
Chapter 1 Page 1
BULLETIN OF ACTS, ORDERS AND DECREES
OF THE
UNITED NETHERLANDS.
(No. 17) DECREE of 24th January 1814, No. 1, holding provisions concerning the Book trade and the property of Literary Works.
We WILLIAM I, by the grace of GOD, Prince of Orange-Nassau, Sovereign of the United Netherlands, etc., etc., etc.
Considering that the Acts and Regulations, concerning the Book printing and the Book trade,
introduced in these Urban Districts by the French administration, not only caused a most injurious obstruction for the Book trade, but also served to suppress freedom of the press completely, to prevent the progress of enlightenment, and to submit all to an arbitrary censorship, utterly contrary to the liberal way of thinking which each right-minded Dutchman holds in the highest of esteems, and which always has characterized the Government of these Lands;
Furthermore taking into consideration, that, before the annexation of these Lands by France, Acts were in force, the purpose of which was to reserve to every Writer and Publisher his lawful right of property, and that the restoration of these Acts (separately contained in the Official Publication of 3rd June 1803), in any case must be deemed necessary in the spirit of the present order of things;
Heard the recommendation of our Commissioner-General of the Interior;
Have decided and decreed:
Art. 1. The French Acts and Regulations, relating to the Book printing and the Book trade, including those which concern the Newspapers, as of this day, are abolished in full.
2. Consequently, the Inspectors of the Book printing and the Book trade are honourably discharged of their posts.
Chapter 1 Page 2
(2)
3. Similarly, the tax resulting from the aforesaid French Acts and Regulations, for the benefit of the general management fund of the Book trade, is abolished on this day; our Commissioner-General of the Interior will be responsible for the liquidation arising therefrom.
4. Everyone is responsible for that which he writes, prints, or publishes; if the author is unknown, or cannot be identified, the Printer alone is liable.
5. Each piece, which is published without the name of the writer or printer, and no indication of the time and place of publication, will be taken to be a piece of libel, and the publisher or distributor thereof may be persecuted as a parody writer.
6. Anyone who publishes an original work, be it all at once, or in volumes or parts, of which he lawfully owns the copyright as Creator, or otherwise, hereby obtains, for himself and his heirs, the exclusive right to publish that Work, if in all complying with the provisions reported in the following articles.
7. Accordingly, it is expressly prohibited to in any way copy and sell such original Work, or to import, distribute, or sell those copied outside the United Netherlands, on penalty of seizure of all unsold copies of the copying available, within this Kingdom, for the benefit of the owner of the original print, as well as payment to the same owner of the value of three hundred copies of the real print, calculated according to the booksellers price.
8. Under the same penalties as are provided in the aforementioned- art. 7, is likewise prohibited the distribution or selling of any translation, abridgement or expansion of an original Work published in the United Netherlands, unless with the written permission of the owner thereof. However, excepted from this are the abstract, reviews, notices, etc., which are communicated to the public in Journals.
9. Prohibited as well, on penalty as laid down in art. 7, is the copying of the Low German translation of a Work published outside these Lands, or the selling of a different Low German translation of the same work within the first three years of the publication of the first translation.
10. Excepted from the right of property are the Greek and Roman classical writers, as far as the text is concerned,
Chapter 1 Page 3
(3)
furthermore also Bibles, Psalm, Church, and School books, of which nobody owns the copyright, as well as all regular Agendas and Almanacs; however, the copying of all that which any Publisher of an Almanac may have attached to increase the utility, for convenience, or adornment thereof, remains prohibited.
Anyone who intends to notify the public of a translation of a Foreign Work, in any language, and to reserve himself the ownership thereof, will be held to:
a. present a copy of the original work to the Municipality of his residence, on which title page shall then be written, without payment of costs, in name of that same Municipality:
Presented the ( ) by N.N. for translation into the language N.N., to the Municipality of N.N.
Witnessed by me,
N.N.
b. to announce his intention to publish such a translation, and the time at which the original work was presented by him to the Municipality of his residence, three times, in the newspaper of his residence, or failing that, in the newspaper of the town closest by.
c. Within the term of six months of the aforesaid presentation of the original work, present six whole printing sheets of the announced translation to the Municipality of his residence, and then advertise this in the Newspaper also reported in b.
12. Of all printed Works, by whatever name, shall be submitted, prior to the publication, three copies (which, inasmuch as these hold more than a hundred pages, will have to be bound), to the Home Office; its usage shall be decided on later; and also included under these provisions are all Newspapers and periodical Works, Maps, and Pictures.
13. Of original works, as well as translations, published prior to the date of this Decree, the right of property provided in art. 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 is granted to anyone who can prove to possess it; he should,
Chapter 1 Page 4
(4)
with a new publication, adhere to that which has been laid down in art. 11 and 12.
14. A list of the Works received by the Home Office will be made public weekly in the Bulletin of Acts, Orders and Decrees.
15. The present Decree shall be entered into the Bulletin of Acts and Decrees.
Enacted at The Hague, the 24th of January of the year 1814, and the first of Our Reign.
(Signed) WILLIAM I
In name of His Royal Highness,
The General Secretary of State,
(Signed) A.R. Falck.
Translation by: Miluska Kooij