The Statute of Anne, the first fully-fledged law regulating copyright, entered into force in Great Britain on April 10, 1710. Consisting of 11 sections, the Statute of Anne is formally titled "An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by Vesting the Copies of Printed Books in the Authors or Purchasers of Copies, during the Times therein mentioned."
The Statute of Anne granted authors of creative works exclusive rights to control the copying, distribution, and performance of their works for a limited period, which was initially set at 14 years, with the possibility of a 14-year extension.
The Statute of Anne was a landmark in the development of copyright law and has served as a model for copyright legislation in many other countries.
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| The Statute of Anne |
The Copyright Act of 1790 was the first federal copyright law in the United States. It was enacted on May 31, 1790, and it protected books, maps, and charts. The law gave the copyright holder the exclusive right to print, reprint, publish, and sell their work for a period of 14 years. The copyright holder could also renew the copyright for an additional 14 years.
The Copyright Act of 1790 was based on the Statute of Anne, the British copyright law that was enacted in 1710.
Thomas Edison's one-and-a-half second film, The Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze, which showed comedian Fred Ott sneezing was the first film to be registered for a copyright.
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers was established in New York City in 1914 to protect the copyrighted musical compositions of its members.
Harry Houdini wanted to prevent people from copying his "Chinese water torture cell" trick, but didn't want to patent it, as that would require explaining how it works. So he gave a performance of the trick as a one-act play before an audience of one, and then filed for a copyright on the play.
In 1929, James Barrie signed over the rights of Peter Pan to the Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital in London. Peter Pan is the only copyright in the UK that has been extended in perpetuity, meaning the hospital can receive royalties forever. It is the copyright which never grows old.
A map making company in the 1930s placed a made up an hamlet (village) in their maps as a copyright trap. Years later the village started showing up on Rand McNally maps. The originator of the map sued for copyright infringement, but in fact locals and government had adopted and used the name.
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Rudolph is copyrighted - Chuck Berry had to pay up when he wrote a rock song about the famous reindeer ("Run Rudolph Run").
17-year-old Kenny Loggins wasn't going to be able to record his song "House at Pooh Corner" because Disney was enforcing their copyright to Winnie the Pooh. Upset, he mentioned this to his girlfriend, only to find out her dad was the CEO of the Disney corporation– he soon got permission.
In 1929, James Barrie signed over the rights of Peter Pan to the Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital in London. Peter Pan is the only copyright in the UK that has been extended in perpetuity, meaning the hospital can receive royalties forever. It is the copyright which never grows old.
A map making company in the 1930s placed a made up an hamlet (village) in their maps as a copyright trap. Years later the village started showing up on Rand McNally maps. The originator of the map sued for copyright infringement, but in fact locals and government had adopted and used the name.
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Rudolph is copyrighted - Chuck Berry had to pay up when he wrote a rock song about the famous reindeer ("Run Rudolph Run").
17-year-old Kenny Loggins wasn't going to be able to record his song "House at Pooh Corner" because Disney was enforcing their copyright to Winnie the Pooh. Upset, he mentioned this to his girlfriend, only to find out her dad was the CEO of the Disney corporation– he soon got permission.
The Copyright Act of 1976 expanded the scope of copyright protection in the US to include a wider range of works, such as music, movies, and computer software. It also extended the term of copyright protection to the life of the author plus 70 years.
In 1984 The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that using a home video recorder to tape movies and television shows for non-commercial purposes did not violate federal copyright law.
In 2009, France's strict new anti-internet piracy agency got into trouble when it was discovered that its logo violated copyright, by using an unlicensed font.
The Guinness Book of Records is the world's most sold copyrighted book, earning it an entry within its own pages.
Georgia State Law is copyrighted. You can be sued for publishing it.
Texts more than 70 years old, and thus out of copyright, can be downloaded for free on a E-Reader from Project Gutenberg.
Due to a copyright issue, George Romero's 1968 film Night of the Living Dead is in the public domain, and can be downloaded for free on the internet. It is currently the most downloaded film on the Internet Archive, with 3.1 million downloads.
The Golden Records on the Voyager probes includes copyrighted material that aliens will be able to access and use completely for free, but we can't.
Cartographers protect their intellectual property by slipping fake streets, or even entire towns, into their maps. If the street/town shows up on another map, they know it was stolen. Dictionary writers have been known to do the same thing with fake words.
Clowns paint their faces onto eggs to copyright them so other clowns can't use the same face. There is a registry of egg faces in both Europe and in the United States.
The only 15 letter words that can be spelled without repeating a letter are 'uncopyrightable' and 'dermatoglyphics' (study of fingerprints).
In 1984 The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that using a home video recorder to tape movies and television shows for non-commercial purposes did not violate federal copyright law.
In 2009, France's strict new anti-internet piracy agency got into trouble when it was discovered that its logo violated copyright, by using an unlicensed font.
The Guinness Book of Records is the world's most sold copyrighted book, earning it an entry within its own pages.
Georgia State Law is copyrighted. You can be sued for publishing it.
Texts more than 70 years old, and thus out of copyright, can be downloaded for free on a E-Reader from Project Gutenberg.
Due to a copyright issue, George Romero's 1968 film Night of the Living Dead is in the public domain, and can be downloaded for free on the internet. It is currently the most downloaded film on the Internet Archive, with 3.1 million downloads.
The Golden Records on the Voyager probes includes copyrighted material that aliens will be able to access and use completely for free, but we can't.
Cartographers protect their intellectual property by slipping fake streets, or even entire towns, into their maps. If the street/town shows up on another map, they know it was stolen. Dictionary writers have been known to do the same thing with fake words.
Clowns paint their faces onto eggs to copyright them so other clowns can't use the same face. There is a registry of egg faces in both Europe and in the United States.
The only 15 letter words that can be spelled without repeating a letter are 'uncopyrightable' and 'dermatoglyphics' (study of fingerprints).
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