The Statute of Anne, 1710

The Statute of Anne is the first known copyright act in the world. After the Stationer’s monopoly was broken, the Stationer’s petitioned Parliament for a new law. The Statute of Anne was the new act. It provided for two types of copyright. It extended the Stationer’s copyright for twenty-one years on works that had already been published by said Stationers. The author or an assignee was given exclusive rights to publish future works for fourteen years. There was a stipulation that the author or assignee could extend his right for another fourteen years. Putting a time limit on the copyright was a drastic change for the Stationers and they didn’t like it. They fought back.

To view a facsimile of the Statute of Anne, visit:

http://copyrighthistory.com/anne.html

Reference

Ewing, J. (n.d.) Copyright and authors. First Monday 8(10). Retrieved October 4, 2008, from http://www.firstmonday.org/Issues/issue8_10/ewing