Copyright History

"Some commentators try to trace the origins [of copyright] to time immemorial." -Vaver (32)

Copyright is not something original, innate, or natural. The copying of an artist's work was criticized at times by the author, but for most of civilized history the movement of ideas was considered paramount. No law existed in Rome mentioning copyright at all. At the Library of Alexandria in 40 AD researchers traveled across the seas with the sole mandate of retrieving and copying every text for the library.


The idea of limiting the access to certain works was sometimes expressed physically. Expensive books were often locked or chained to the lecterns on which they sat so their pages could not be taken. Even in present day architecture is used to limit access for profit i.e. in movie theaters.

The Beginning of IP
Up until the invention of the printing press in the 1470's, copyright was hardly an issue as all copying had to be done by hand and as a result was time consuming and costly. When printing presses became more common, people began using them to copy and distribute material they liked at rates no one really hadt expected.

People copied history books, novels, religious works and the works. Plagiarism was commited as well as reverse plagiarism in which works were printed under well known names for the pupose of boosting sales.

While this unregulated material was sincerely a problem, the government's response was partly a reaction to the potential for the spread of seditious material.

Both problems were solved by creating a centralized regulator of printed material: a guild named The Company of Stationers. This company was granted the sole power to own and operate printing presses and were even granted the power to destroy those not in their control. In return for this power they were obligated to run material by the crown's censor.

This is how the system ran for 150yrs, until a revolution in 1700.

Copyright formally began in the U.K. with the passing of the Statute of Anne, also known as the Copyright Act of 1709. The act stated it's purpose clearly:

"To promote the Progress of Science..., by securing for limited Times to Authors.... the exclusive Right to their... Writings" and remains the assumed role of the copyright law today.

It was not until the Berne Convention in 1886 that Copyright became recognizable across country boarders. The agreement extended copyright protection to authors in participating sovereign nations.

More recent global copyright measures:

World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty (WIPO) 1996

Protects computer programs as literary works.

Protects databases.

Makes it illegal to remove rights management from data.

Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) 1994

Standardized global copyright enforcement for Intellectual property.

Administered by the World Trade Organization.