Copyright

The Evolution of Copyright Law

Modern copyright law was established in England in 1710, when the British Parliament enacted the Statute of Anne. This law codified legal protection of consumers by limiting copyright's duration, preventing publishing monopolies among booksellers. The statute instituted the concept of “public domain,” which among other things limits copyrights' terms and prohibits copyright holders from controlling the use of works after they have been sold. Finally, the Statute of Anne initiated an author's copyright, but that benefit was limited since most authors could not be paid unless they contracted with booksellers or publishers to put works out to market.

U.S. copyright law derives from the Statute of Anne and from common law, and the framers of the Constitution included federal copyright provisions that give Congress the power “to promote the progress of science and useful arts … by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive rights to their respective writings and discoveries.” Congress enacted the Copyright Act of 1790, and several major revisions followed in 1831, 1870, 1909, 1976, and 1998.

Copyright laws were intended to protect creators' rights to reap rewards from their works, and to ensure that the public would reap rewards from publication. But the idea was to reasonably limit rights so that creative works—or, distilled to their essence, ideas—would eventually be exchanged freely. Creative works could be used in any way after copyrights expired. In 1790, copyrights expired after 14 years, with an option for one renewal that extended protection to a maximum of 28 years.

The duration of U.S. copyrights and the scope of their protections gradually changed. Its rules no longer apply only to maps, charts, and books, as they did in 1790, but to anything “fixed in a tangible medium of expression.” Copyright law no longer regulates only publishers; its dictates now can apply to anyone who makes a “copy” of a creative work. Copyright is not even limited to copying. Even a derivative version of a work can also be subjected to copyright restrictions.

The 1909 revision expanded the scope of creative works under protection to include all forms of authorship, and it extended copyright protections to a total 56 years, including renewals. This legislation directed the focus of copyrights away from marketplace regulation to the proprietary rights of authors and publishers.

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