Copyright history. Part 3: Monopoly is dying ... and reborn
Continued. The first part is the Black Death . The second part is Bloody Mary .
After Bloody Mary imposed a monopoly on copying books, providing the authorities with the possibility of censorship, neither booksellers nor the crown felt any desire to change anything. The idyll lasted 138 years.
The monopoly was established by Maria I in 1557 as a censorship mechanism that prevents the distribution and discussion of Protestant literature. Her successor, Elizabeth I, gladly used this monopoly to prevent the spread and discussion of Catholic literature.
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During the seventeenth century, the parliament tried to gradually take control of censorship from the monarchs. In 1641, the Parliament dissolved the court, in which cases of copyright infringement, the so-called " Star Chamber ", were usually heard. As a result, copyright infringement has become a de facto unpunishable crime, something like today in Sweden crossing the street in the wrong place. Technically, this is an offense, but in fact no one will judge and punish him. As a result, creative activity in Britain literally soared into the stratosphere.
Unfortunately, the parliament did not want to achieve this at all.
In 1643, the copyright monopoly was restored , moreover, in an even more strict form than before. Now obligatory preliminary registration of the author, printing house and publisher in the London Book Trading Company was required, before starting any publication work a license was required, representatives of the Book Trading Company were allowed to confiscate, burn and destroy unlicensed books and equipment. Arrest and harsh punishments were introduced for all copyright infringers.
In 1688 there was a Glorious Revolution , as a result of which many people in the parliament were affected by the monopoly and did not burn with the desire to support it. In 1695 it was decided to abolish the monopoly.
Thus, from 1695 the copyright ceased to operate. And again there was a sharp creative rise - historians say that during these years many documents were written, which later inspired the founding fathers to create the United States of America.
Naturally, the London bookseller was unhappy with the loss of such a favorable monopoly position. Booksellers even staged a rally on the steps of parliament demanding the return of the monopoly.
Notice! Not authors, namely printers and publishers asked for a monopoly. It never occurred to anyone to say that without copyright they would not write anything. The idea was that without it they would not print, and that was another matter.
The parliament, which had just abolished censorship, was not interested in restoring it immediately with the possibility of centralized control, and therefore of abuse. Then the booksellers offered an option in which the author remains the “owner” of his works. With this they killed three birds with one stone at once. Firstly, the parliament could be sure that there would not be a single censorship center. Secondly, the publishers retained a monopoly on the publication of books, since no one except them had the right to sell the books of the authors. Thirdly, the monopoly received solid legal grounds and protection.
The publishers ’lobby achieved its goal and a new monopoly law was passed in 1709 and entered into force on April 10, 1710. This was the first big victory for the right holders.
At this point in its history, copyright appears to us in its direct and natural form, as a monopoly with elements of censorship, which protects primarily publishers, without taking into account the interests of artists and authors.
For a long time, publishers burned, broke and confiscated printing presses and books, although the new law did not give them that right. The abuses continued until 1765, when the Entik’s case against Carrington set a precedent, according to which the principle “everything that is not explicitly prohibited by law” was approved, and citizens were guaranteed protection from baseless persecution by the authorities. The essence of the matter was that government officials broke into the home of the writer and journalist John Entik, searched and confiscated “unlicensed” (that is, uncensored) materials criticizing the authorities.
This precedent, created during the struggle of the citizen against censorship (which was inseparable from copyright at that time) and the arbitrariness of the authorities, played a major role in the establishment of the common law system and civil liberties and formed the basis of the fourth amendment to the US Constitution.
Part Four: US and Libraries
After Bloody Mary imposed a monopoly on copying books, providing the authorities with the possibility of censorship, neither booksellers nor the crown felt any desire to change anything. The idyll lasted 138 years.The monopoly was established by Maria I in 1557 as a censorship mechanism that prevents the distribution and discussion of Protestant literature. Her successor, Elizabeth I, gladly used this monopoly to prevent the spread and discussion of Catholic literature.
')
During the seventeenth century, the parliament tried to gradually take control of censorship from the monarchs. In 1641, the Parliament dissolved the court, in which cases of copyright infringement, the so-called " Star Chamber ", were usually heard. As a result, copyright infringement has become a de facto unpunishable crime, something like today in Sweden crossing the street in the wrong place. Technically, this is an offense, but in fact no one will judge and punish him. As a result, creative activity in Britain literally soared into the stratosphere.
Unfortunately, the parliament did not want to achieve this at all.
In 1643, the copyright monopoly was restored , moreover, in an even more strict form than before. Now obligatory preliminary registration of the author, printing house and publisher in the London Book Trading Company was required, before starting any publication work a license was required, representatives of the Book Trading Company were allowed to confiscate, burn and destroy unlicensed books and equipment. Arrest and harsh punishments were introduced for all copyright infringers.
In 1688 there was a Glorious Revolution , as a result of which many people in the parliament were affected by the monopoly and did not burn with the desire to support it. In 1695 it was decided to abolish the monopoly.
Thus, from 1695 the copyright ceased to operate. And again there was a sharp creative rise - historians say that during these years many documents were written, which later inspired the founding fathers to create the United States of America.
Naturally, the London bookseller was unhappy with the loss of such a favorable monopoly position. Booksellers even staged a rally on the steps of parliament demanding the return of the monopoly.
Notice! Not authors, namely printers and publishers asked for a monopoly. It never occurred to anyone to say that without copyright they would not write anything. The idea was that without it they would not print, and that was another matter.
The parliament, which had just abolished censorship, was not interested in restoring it immediately with the possibility of centralized control, and therefore of abuse. Then the booksellers offered an option in which the author remains the “owner” of his works. With this they killed three birds with one stone at once. Firstly, the parliament could be sure that there would not be a single censorship center. Secondly, the publishers retained a monopoly on the publication of books, since no one except them had the right to sell the books of the authors. Thirdly, the monopoly received solid legal grounds and protection.
The publishers ’lobby achieved its goal and a new monopoly law was passed in 1709 and entered into force on April 10, 1710. This was the first big victory for the right holders.
At this point in its history, copyright appears to us in its direct and natural form, as a monopoly with elements of censorship, which protects primarily publishers, without taking into account the interests of artists and authors.
For a long time, publishers burned, broke and confiscated printing presses and books, although the new law did not give them that right. The abuses continued until 1765, when the Entik’s case against Carrington set a precedent, according to which the principle “everything that is not explicitly prohibited by law” was approved, and citizens were guaranteed protection from baseless persecution by the authorities. The essence of the matter was that government officials broke into the home of the writer and journalist John Entik, searched and confiscated “unlicensed” (that is, uncensored) materials criticizing the authorities.
This precedent, created during the struggle of the citizen against censorship (which was inseparable from copyright at that time) and the arbitrariness of the authorities, played a major role in the establishment of the common law system and civil liberties and formed the basis of the fourth amendment to the US Constitution.
Part Four: US and Libraries
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/162077/
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