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What can and can't be copied is a matter of law, but also of aesthetics, culture, and economics. The act of copying, and the creation and transaction of rights relating to it, evokes fundamental notions of communication and censorship, of authorship and ownership - of privilege and property. This volume conceives a new history of copyright law that has its roots in a wide range of norms and practices. The essays reach back to the very material world of craftsmanship and mechanical inventions of Renaissance Italy where, in 1469, the German master printer Johannes of Speyer obtained a five-year exclusive privilege to print in Venice and its dominions. Along the intellectual journey that follows, we encounter John Milton who, in his 1644 Areopagitica speech 'For the Liberty of Unlicensed Printing', accuses the English parliament of having been deceived by the 'fraud of some old patentees and monopolizers in the trade of bookselling' (i.e. the London Stationers' Company). Later revisionary essays investigate the regulation of the printing press in the North American colonies as a provincial and somewhat crude version of European precedents, and how, in the revolutionary France of 1789, the subtle balance that the royal decrees had established between the interests of the author, the bookseller, and the public, was shattered by the abolition of the privilege system. Contributions also address the specific evolution of rights associated with the visual and performing arts. These essays provide essential reading for anybody interested in copyright, intellectual history and current public policy choices in intellectual property. The volume is a companion to the digital archive Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC): www.copyrighthistory.org.

Book history --- Industrial and intellectual property --- privileges [permissions] --- copyright --- 347.78 --- 347.78 Auteursrecht --- Auteursrecht --- Copyright --- History. --- law --- book history --- cultural studies --- legal history --- intellectual property --- creative commons --- copyright history --- public domain --- john milton --- aesthetics --- copyright law --- patent --- censorship --- Monopoly

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"Digital technology has made culture more accessible than ever before. Texts, audio, pictures and video can easily be produced, disseminated, used and remixed using devices that are increasingly user-friendly and affordable. However, along with this technological democratization comes a paradoxical flipside: the norms regulating culture's use--copyright and related rights--have become increasingly restrictive. This book brings together essays by academics, librarians, entrepreneurs, activists and policy makers, who were all part of the EU-funded Communia project. Together the authors argue that the Public Domain--that is, the informational works owned by all of us, be that literature, music, the output of scientific research, educational material or public sector information--is fundamental to a healthy society. The essays range from more theoretical papers on the history of copyright and the Public Domain, to practical examples and case studies of recent projects that have engaged with the principles of Open Access and Creative Commons licensing. The book is essential reading for anyone interested in the current debate about copyright and the Internet. It opens up discussion and offers practical solutions to the difficult question of the regulation of culture at the digital age"--Publisher's description.

Public domain (Copyright law) --- Digital rights management. --- Copyright and electronic data processing. --- Copyright --- DRM (Digital rights management) --- Management, Digital rights --- Rights management, Digital --- Copyright and electronic data processing --- Electronic data processing and copyright --- Copyright infringement --- Fair use (Copyright) --- Public domain --- Technologie et arts --- copyright --- cultural studies --- communia --- creative commons --- internet regulation --- the commons --- licensing --- digitization --- digital age --- copyright law --- open culture --- Intellectual property --- Resource Description Framework --- Nouvelles technologies de l'information et de la communication --- Droit d'auteur --- Et la culture --- Domaine public