History of Copyright

October 6, 2008
Intellectual Property News and Interesting Facts

Copyright was invented after the arrival of the printing press and with wider public literacy.

As a legal concept, its origins in Britain were from a reaction to printers’ monopolies at the beginning of the eighteenth century.

Charles II of England was concerned by the unregulated copying of books and passed the Licensing Act of 1662 by Act of Parliament, which established a register of licensed books and required a copy to be deposited with the Stationer’s Company, essentially continuing the licensing of material that had long been in effect.

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