Notes on Julien Hofman- CCR 720

Thankfully Hofman’s claim of a “plain language” guide to copyright is true! Chapter one outlines the major events that precede the copyright laws of today. As her opening paragraph states explicitly chapter one is a history of copyright and is primarily there to add context.

-“The debate about whether copyright existed before the printing press is not just about history” (1).

· One possible implication of copyright not existing before the printing press- it may not be necessary as electronic publishing replaces the traditional printing press. What I take this to mean is that if before we the printing press was created as a mechanism to widely distribute texts copyright was unnecessary so too it might be again once authors have more control in how and what gets published. She doesn’t address this or extend it in the first chapter but she states, “So the debate is really about whether copyright is a fundamental, inalienable right of an author or just a convenient way of managing a certain technology. We will return to this question in Chapter 12 when we discuss the future of copyright” (1).

-“And it was London that events led to the modern idea of copyright” (2).

· Before the printing press “stationers” published books by copying works by hand, illustrating, binding, and selling them. Stationers organized themselves into a guild in 1403.

· 1557- King Phillip and Queen Mary gave stationers a royal charter which created the Stationer’s Company. Stationers were required to register books with the Stationer’s Company and were not allowed to print anything that may be considered “offensive” to those in authority.

· Under the royal charter stationers did very well. In 1662 under Charles II Parliament passed and even tighter censorship act.

· Up to this point none of the legislation gave any rights to the authors!

· By end of 1600’s censorship was being widely questioned.

· Philosopher John Locke complained that stationers were abusing legislation and allowing poor quality copies to remain in circulation. “Whatever the exact reasons, Parliament allowed the Licensing Act to expire in 1679” (3). Sounds like it could have been do to the questioning of the censorship or the trouble being raised by Locke and/or both.

· From 1679-1710 publishing went unregulated in Britain. “Publishing flourished and the first professional journalists and independent newspapers appeared” (3).

- “In 1710 copyright legislation finally came into force in the form of what is known as the Statute of Anne” (emphasis mine 4).

· Statute of Anne gave exclusive rights to authors for 14 years…if they were still alive after the first term then they were extended another 14.

· Stationers no longer had a monopoly and authors were still required to register with the Stationer Company.

· S of A also required that copies be deposited in 9 libraries: 4 in England and 5 in Scotland.

· S of A drafters did not actually use the term “copyright.” First usage was in the House of Lords (1735).

· Often to make a profit it took upfront money for publication which individual authors did not have therefore authors were often forced to sell their copyright to publishers. Essentially, publishers were still making a large profit off the authors. Alexander Pope likens publishers as “pimps.”

· “The Statue of Anne did, however, put authors in a stronger position when it came to bargaining with publishers” (5).

· S of A only referred to literary works. However, in 1734 the Engravers Copyright Act was passed and it protected both “literary and artistic” works.

-“Codification of copyright law came only with the Copyright Act of 1911” (6).

-“In the United States the US Constitution gave Congress the power ‘to promote the progress of science and the useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writing and discoveries’” (6).

· 1790- Congress passed the first US copyright Act similar to S of A in that it required registration and was set for 14 year renewable terms. However it only protected works from US citizens and residents.

-“French copyright developed differently from British copyright” (7).

· French attached more value to the “creative contribution” of the author and distinguished between “propriety” rights and “moral” rights. Propriety were related to publishing and distribution while moral rights determined authorship and reputation.

-BERNE CONVENTION

· Up to this point copyright laws did not account for foreign publishing.

· 1878 Victor Hugo founded (ALAI) and international association for art and literary protection

· 1886- 10 countries met in Berne and signed the International Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works.

-Patents have been around longer than copyright laws.

· “Patent and copyright have begun to overlap because some countries are using patent instead of copyright to protect computer software. We will compare those two forms of protection in Chapter 10 (Software Protection)” (9).

KEY POINT OF CONCLUSION:

“In the 21^st century new technology is changing the way people publish work. These changes are as significant as those the printing press introduced in the 16^th century” (10).