copyright

copyright is the ownership of and right of control over the means of reproducing works of literature, art, drama, film, sound, and computer technology. Until the 18th cent. authors had little protection against pirate publication of their works. An important step forward, and the basis of modern legislation, was a statute of 1709 ‘to encourage learned men’ (8 Anne c. 19) by granting the author sole right of publication for fourteen years, with the possibility of a further extension of another fourteen years. Publishers were required to submit nine copies of each work to be lodged in the royal library, the libraries of Oxford and Cambridge Universities, Sion College, London, the four Scottish universities, and the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh. The length of copyright was extended in 1814, 1842, and 1911 and comparable legislation brought in to protect plays, music, and engravings. Copyright now lasts 70 years after the death of an author. Under the terms of the Public Lending Rights scheme, introduced in 1983, authors can receive royalties on the use of their books in libraries in Britain and in several other European countries.

June Cochrane