It is not unjustifiable to argue that public interest considerations have lain at the heart of copyright law since its inception. The 1710 Statute of Anne, often regarded as the first British copyright statute, has as its full title ‘An act for the encouragement of learning, by vesting the copies of printed books in the authors or purchasers of such copies, during the times therein mentioned’. Its objectives, as set out in its preamble, were to prevent the printing and reprinting of ‘books and other writings’ without the authorisation of their ‘authors and proprietors’, a practice leading to the ‘very great detriment’ of authors and ‘too often to the ruin of them and their families’, and by this means to encourage ‘learned men to compose and write useful books’ … (more)
[Yin Harn Lee, University of Bristol Law School Blog, 28 October 2024]
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