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    Core documents by: Date Place Core documents for: Italy Germany France Britain United States All documents for: Italy Germany France Britain United States Original language: English French German Italian Latin Browse documents by: Person ... by name ... by occupation ... by life dates Place Institution Legislation Case law Browse commentaries by: Person ... by name ... by occupation ... by life dates Place Institution Legislation Case law Browse database by: Key words Editors' login:  | | "Pezzana e Consorti" case: supporting documents, Venice (1780) Source: N/A Citation: "Pezzana e Consorti" case: supporting documents (1780), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org Record Images Record-ID: i_1780 Full title "Pezzana e Consorti" case (1781): copies of the decrees and rulings issued by the Commissioners of the University of Padua and the Venetian Senate in 1780 which Pezzana and his colleagues petitioned against. Full title original language N/A Abstract For three centuries the practice of the authorities in Venice had been to grant privileges of limited duration, usually with the clause that the books were to be sold at "a fair price" ("giusto prezzo"). By the second half of the eighteenth century, however, Venetian publishing was in a state of crisis because of the proliferation of cheap reprint editions. In order to survive, members of the Guild had to save on production costs, leading to a general decline in the typographical and aesthetic qulity of the once so renowned Venetian editions. This state of affairs so appalled Gasparo Gozzi (the brother of the famous dramatist), who was Superintendent of the Venetian Guild, that he prevailed upon the Riformatori (Commissioners) of the University of Padua (the agency in charge of the book trade in Venice) to pass a law on 30 July 1780, which effectively established a perpetuity of privileges by declaring that the original privilege-holder of a work was always entitled to apply for a renewal of it. This drastic measure, albeit a triumph of corporate protectionism, was not to the liking of several members of the Guild, especially the major publishing houses of Venice, which, by taking part in the lucrative reprinting business, had been able to drive their less powerful colleagues out of the market. Twelve of the major publishers' families, led by the Heirs of Niccolò Pezzana, submitted a very skilfully drafted petition to the Riformatori, laying the blame for the publishing crisis on foreign competition, and lobbying for the old legislation to be restored. The petition of Pezzana & C. was heard by the Riformatori but immediately followed by a counter-petition from those members of the Guild (including the Prior, Marcantonio Manfré) who supported protectionism. On 18 September 1781, the Riformatori decided against Pezzana & Co., but the law of 30 July 1780 would eventually be revoked a few years later anyway, after a ruling of 1 May 1789 which declared that all books whose privileges had expired were public property. The case presents some parallels with Donaldson v. Becket (1774) in which the House of Lords rejected a London publisher's claim of a perpetual common law copyright. Bibliography Berengo, Marino, "La crisi dell'arte della stampa veneziana alla fine del XVIII secolo", in "Studi in onore di Armando Sapori", vol.2 (Milan, 1957), 1320-1338 Borghi, Maurizio, "Writing Practices in the Privilege- and Intellectual Property Systems" (2003). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1031639 Castellani, Carlo, "I privilegi di stampa e la proprietà letteraria in Venezia: Dalla introduzione della stampa nella città fin verso la fine del secolo XVIII" (Venice: Fratelli Visentini, 1888) Infelise, Mario, "L'editoria veneziana nel 700" (Milan: Franco Angeli, 1988) Related documents in this database Author N/A Publisher Pezzana e Consorti Location Venice Year 1780 Language Italian Source not available Physical description 8vo,31cm x 21cm Illustrations tables N/A Persons referred to Albrizzi, Angelo (fl.1780-1794) Albrizzi, Giambattista (1698-1777) Bembo, Diodato (fl.1770-1780) Bettinelli, Niccolò (fl.1780-1807) Caroboli, Giacomo (fl.1764-1780) Fenzo, Giuseppe (fl.1780-1811) Fenzo, Modesto (fl.1741-1779) Foscarini, Sebastian (fl.1780) Gradenigo, Bortolo (fl.1780) Manfré, Marcantonio (fl.1743-1780) Marchesini, Davidde (fl.1765-1780) Martinengo, Venceslao (fl.1780-1797) Memo, Anzolo (fl.1780) Novelli, Giambattista (fl.1768-1780) Occhi, Simone (fl.1742-1780) Pasquali, Giambattista (1702-1784) Pezzana, Francesco di Niccolò (fl.1768-1780) Pezzana, Giannantonio (fl.1780-1804) Pezzana, Lorenzo (1680-1754) Pezzana, Niccolò (fl.1669) Pitteri, Francesco (fl.1735-1780) Remondini, Giuseppe (1745-1811) Renier, Paolo (d.1789) Savioni, Girolamo (fl.1728) Savioni, Pietro (fl.1774-1799) Soranzo, Tomà Mocenigo (fl.1770-1797) Tron, Andrea (1712-1785) Vallaresso, Alvise (fl.1771-1785) Zatta, Antonio (fl.1765-1797) Zino, Carlo (fl.1780-1797) Persons referred to in commentary Gozzi, Count Carlo (1720-1806) Gozzi, Count Gasparo (1713-1786) Manfré, Marcantonio (fl.1743-1780) Places referred to Venice Places referred to in commentary London Venice Legislation referred to Venetian decree on privileges (1517) Venetian decree on privileges for new books and reprints (1603) Venetian decree establishing perpetuity of privileges (1780) Legislation referred to in commentary Venetian decree establishing perpetuity of privileges (1780) Venetian decree, declaring books whose privileges had expired to belong to the public domain (1789) Cases referred to Pezzana e Consorti (1780-81) Cases referred to in commentary Donaldson v. Becket (1774) 4 Burr. 2408, 2 Bro. P.C. 129 Pezzana e Consorti (1780-81) Institutions referred to Riformatori dello Studio di Padova (Venetian Board of Governors for the University of Padua) Università di Stampatori e Librai (Venetian Guild of Printers and Booksellers) Venetian Senate Institutions referred to in commentary House of Lords Riformatori dello Studio di Padova (Venetian Board of Governors for the University of Padua) Università di Stampatori e Librai (Venetian Guild of Printers and Booksellers) Venetian Senate Key words barter trade duration, prolongation of privileges editions, new guilds interest groups lobbying perpetual protection privileges, printing privileges, Venetian public domain public good registration Università di Stampatori e Librai (Venetian Guild of Printers and Booksellers) utility Responsible editor Joanna Kostylo Copyright status Original document is out of copyright. 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