The Copyright Wars: Three Centuries of Trans-Atlantic Battle

552 Pages·2014·2.86 MB·english

by  Peter Baldwin

The Copyright Wars

The Copyright Wars
Three CenTuries of Trans- aTlanTiC BaTTle
Peter Baldwin
P r i n Ce To n u n ive r s iTy P r e s s
P r i n C e To n a n d ox fo r d
Copyright © 2014 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6 Oxford Street, Woodstock,
Oxfordshire OX20 1TW
press.princeton.edu
Jacket design by Leslie Flis
All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Baldwin, Peter, 1956– author.
The copyright wars : three centuries of trans-Atlantic battle / Peter Baldwin.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-691-16182-2 (alk. paper)
1. Copyright—Europe—History. 2. Copyright—United States—History. I. Title.
K1420.5.B359 2014
346.404′82–dc23 2013049603
British Library Cataloging- in- Publication Data is available
This book has been composed in Sabon Next LT Pro and Scala Sans OT display
Printed on acid- free paper. ∞
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For
Tom
Jemima
Daniel
Sam
Sigi
Lucy
Ben
the next generation of my unexpected family

Contents
Introduction: The Agon of Author and Audience 1
1. The Battle between Anglo- American Copyright and European
Authors’ Rights 14
2. From Royal Privilege to Literary Property: A Common Start to
Copyright in the Eighteenth Century 53
3. The Ways Part: Copyright and Authors’ Rights in
the Nineteenth Century 82
4. Continental Drift: Europe Moves from Property to Personality
at the Turn of the Century 126
5. The Strange Birth of Moral Rights in Fascist Europe 163
6. The Postwar Apotheosis of Authors’ Rights 199
7. America Turns European: The Battle of the Booksellers Redux
in the 1990s 262
8. The Rise of the Digital Public: The Copyright Wars Continue
in the New Millennium 318
Conclusion: Reclaiming the Spirit of Copyright 383
Acknowledgments 411
Notes 413
Index 513

The Copyright Wars