Brief History of Copyright
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Invented right after the invention of the Printing Press
It originates from Britain, and was a reaction to the monopolies of the printers in
the 1700s
The Statute of Anne in 1709 was the first copyright law established and it gave the
British writers the rights to their works
Heavily pushed for by the printers as copyright got them their money and
prevented other printers from printing the same material
This copyright sparked an illicit reprint trade between Britain and Scottland and
Ireland
This re-printing led into the Donaldson vs. Beckett case where the Irish argued that
copyright had an end and was not indefinite so re-printing could occur. This case
led to parliament instituting a length to copyright
In 1886 The Berne Convention established the recognition of a common
copyright, and was agreed upon by several nations
Under the Berne Convention copyright was automatically granted to an author
until the author disclaims them or the copyright expires
Copyright act of 1976 primary basis of Copyright Law in US “Fair use” policies put
in place, and was meant to address the technological advances of our age