<nettime> source texts/copyright history

[Karl-Erik Tallmo <tallmo@nisus.se>]

Hello,

I have uploaded a few source texts from the history of copyright:

Donaldson v. Beckett, from 1774 and the Fichte text "Beweis der 
Unrechtmäßigkeit des Büchernachdrucks" from 1793.

Donaldson v. Beckett was the trial which finally ended the so called
Battle of Booksellers, that had been going on since the passing of the
statute of Anne in 1710. In several trials during more than 60 years both
the book industry and the judges had been fighting over the question
whether the Statute of Anne really abolished a common law perpetual
copyright or not. See http://www.copyrighthistory.com/donaldson.html

In the text "Beweis der Unrechtmäßigkeit des Büchernachdrucks" Fichte was
among the first - if not the very first - to clearly distinguish between
form and content, thus elevating form to a kind of personal property worth
protecting. See http://www.copyrighthistory.com/fichte.html (in German
with English comments and excerpts.)


(The first copyright law in the world is also available at the site, the
Statute of Anne from 1710, se http://www.copyrighthistory.com/anne.html)


Karl-Erik Tallmo



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