Foundations of Copyright

In this chapter, the way that the concept of the creator as owner grew is described, along with the tensions and motives in initially seeking to control printing through copyright. The rationale for an apparently anglophone focus in considering the foundation of copyright is given. The way that the concept of author rights came to displace the rights of printers and publishers is described. An early and ongoing contestation of the notion of balance between monopoly and exclusive benefit on the one hand, and public good and the spread of knowledge on the other, is discussed. In this, reference is made to the disentanglement of copyright from censorship and its emergence as a property concept. The development of early legislation and parallel and continuing developments beyond British law are described. The chapter briefly touches on challenges posed by new technologies and forms of expression in the late 19th and 20th centuries. It is argued that the concept of balance has come under new pressures, and some of the most notable directions in contemporary copyright law making have interesting resemblances to the copyright landscape before Statute of Anne. The chapter provides the background to further discussion of rights developments in the digital era which occurs in subsequent contributions.