Before we jump into this brief history of copyright as we know it, I'm sure you may be wondering why you need to know this at all? Well, anytime I am thinking about a copyright conundrum and I am not sure what the answer may be, I find that going back to the beginning is helpful. Going back and looking at the original purposes of copyright often assists me when I am researching and informs my reasoning when I am dealing with a novel issue. It can be super helpful to know how and why a law developed. So, let's take a brief look.
The Statute of Anne
Modern American copyright law can trace its roots to the Statute of Anne which was passed in 1710 by the British Parliament. Prior to the passage of this statute, the publishing industry was controlled by the Stationer's Company which held a monopoly it received by virtue of a royal charter granted by Queen Mary I. The Stationer's Company controlled what books were allowed to be printed and was given a perpetual right to copy the works of others. Authors were not allowed to be members of the Stationer's Company so they had no say in how their works were licensed or utilized. [1] Additionally, since the Stationer's Company was the only company allowed to print and distribute books, it was given the power to destroy any other illegal printers and manufacturers. It was a powerful company that exploited the creators of the books and censored everyone else. You can imagine the toll this took on creators and society alike. To have one company that controls all the information that people can obtain certainly does not encourage creativity or curiosity.
The Statute of Anne was passed in many ways as a response to the abuses of the Stationer's Company. The purpose of the law was muddy and complicated at first but, ultimately, the law attempted to encourage learning and balance the rights of authors, publishers and the public. The Statute gave author's the exclusive right to copy, print and reprint their works for an initial period of 14 years. [2]
Copyright in the U.S.
Some seventy years after the Statute of Anne was passed in Britain, during the Constitutional Convention of 1787, James Madison submitted a provision "to secure to literary authors their copyrights for a limited time." [3] The framers of the Constitution thought copyright was important enough that it should be embedded in the bedrock of our country. The stated purpose of copyright was and has been to promote the progress of the arts by giving authors the exclusive control over their work for a period of time. This was intended to incentivize authors to create works that were considered beneficial to society.
Encouraging creativity, learning and having access to information were important to the framers and continue to be important today. Many a court has turned to the original purposes of copyright in determining whether a law or action is permissible or not so, it is important to always keep these purposes in mind when analyzing copyright issues.
[1] Streibich, Harold C., "The Moral Right of Ownership to Intellectual Property: Part II From the Age of Printing to the Future", University of Memphis Law Review. Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. 7 (1). ISSN 1080-8582.
[2] Craig Joyce, L. Ray Patterson, "Copyright in 1791: An Essay Concerning the Founders’ View of Copyright Power Granted to Congress in Article 1. Section 8, Clause 8 of the U.S. Constitution”, Emory L.J.Vol. 52 No. 909 (2003).
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