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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:  | | Donaldson v. Becket, London (1774) Source: Hansard, 1st ser., 17 (1774): 953-1003, University of Birmingham Library Citation: Donaldson v. Becket (1774), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org Record Images Commentary Record-ID: uk_1774 Full title Donaldson v. Becket (1774) Hansard, 1st ser., 17 (1774): 953-1003 Full title original language N/A Abstract The first decision of the House of Lords to address the question of copyright. This decision is generally regarded as providing a conclusion to the literary property debate of the mid-eighteenth century that affirmed the existence of copyright at common law while at the same time deciding that that natural authorial property right was nevertheless supplanted by the Statute of Anne 1710 (uk_1710). The commentary explores the background to, and substance of, the case, and in particular, the relationship between the common law judges and the House of Lords when exercising its appellate jurisdiction, and the subsequent efforts of the book trade to secure new legislation following the decision. The commentary suggests that the traditional interpretation of the Donaldson decision is open to question. Instead, it argues that the House of Lords, in line with the majority of the law lords who spoke to the issue, rejected the argument in favour of common law copyright, but that the significance of this decision was nevertheless obscured as a result of the manner in which the opinions of the judges and the law lords was subsequently recorded and reported. Bibliography Abrams, H., "The Historic Foundation of American Copyright Law: Exploding the Myth of Common Law Copyright", Wayne Law Review, 29 (1983): 1119-1191 Deazley, R., On the Origin of the Right to Copy: Charting the Movement of Copyright Law in Eighteenth Century Britain, 1695-1775 (Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2004) Patterson, L.R., Copyright in Historical Perspective (Nashville: Vanderbilt University, 1968) Rose, M., Authors and Owners. The Invention of Copyright (London: Harvard University Press, 1993) Whicher, J., "The Ghost of Donaldson v Beckett: An Inquiry into the Constitutional Distribution of Powers over the Law of Literary Property in the United States", Copyright Society of the USA, 9 (1961-62): 102-51, 194-229 Related documents in this database Author N/A Publisher N/A Location London Year 1774 Language English Source Hansard, 1st ser., 17 (1774): 953-1003, University of Birmingham Library Physical description N/A Illustrations tables N/A Persons referred to Adams, Richard (1709/10-1774) Addison, Joseph (1672-1719) Ames, Joseph (1689-1759) Anne (1665-1714) Ashurst, William (1725-1807) Aston, Richard (1717-1778) Bacon, Francis (1561-1626) Bathurst, Henry, 2nd Earl (1714-1794) Becket, Thomas (1722-1813) Blackstone, William (1723-1780) Burrow, Sir James (1701-1782) Camden, Charles Pratt, 1st Earl (1714-1794) Charles I (1600-1649) Charles II (1630-1685) Clarke, Sir Thomas (1703/04-1764) Condell, Henry (d.1627) Cromwell, Oliver (1599-1658) Curl, Edmund (1683-1747) de Grey, William (1719-1781) Donaldson, Alexander (1727-1794) Donaldson, John (b.1729) Dunning, John (1731-1783) Elizabeth I (1533-1603) Eyre, Sir James (1734-1799) Faulkner, George (c.1703-1775) Foote, Samuel (1720-1777) Frederick II, the Great (1712-1786) George III (1738-1820) Gilbert, Sir Geoffrey (1674-1726) Gould, Henry (1710-1794) Grotius, Hugo (1583-1645) Gwyn, Francis (1648-1734) Harcourt, Simon, 1st Viscount (c.1661-1727) Harrison, John (1693-1776) Hawkesworth, John (c.1715-1773) Hemings, John (c.1556-1630) Henley, Robert, 1st Earl of Northington (c.1708-1772) Henry VI (1421-1471) Henry VIII (1491-1547) Hogarth, William (1697-1764) Holt, Sir John (1642-1710) Howard, Thomas, 3rd Earl of Effingham (1746-1791) Hume, David (1711-1776) James I (1566-1625) Jeffreys, George Jeffreys, 1st Baron (1648-1689) Johnson, Samuel (1649-1703) Johnson, Samuel (1709-1784) Kames, Henry Home, Lord (1696-1782) Law, Rt Rev Edmund (1703-1787) Lintot Locke, John (1632-1704) Lyttelton, Thomas, 2nd Baron Lyttelton of Frankley (1744-1779) Mansfield, William Murray, 1st Earl (1705-1793) Mary I (1516-1558) Milton, John (1608-1674) Nares, John (1716-1786) Newton, Sir Isaac (1642-1727) Newton, Thomas (1704-1782) Paulus, Julius (c.190-c.225) Perrott, George (1710-1780) Philip II (1527-1598) Pope, Alexander (1688-1744) Prynne, William (1600-1669) Robertson, William (1721-1793) Scroggs, Sir William (c.1623-1683) Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3rd Earl of (1671-1713) Shakespeare, William (1564-1616) Shebbeare, John (1709-1788) Smythe, Sir Sidney Stafford (1705-1778) Somers, John, 1st Baron (1651-1716) Stair, John Dalrymple, 5th Earl (1720-1789) Swift, Jonathan (1667-1745) Thomson, James (1700-1748) Thurlow, Edward, 1st Baron (1731-1806) Tillotson, John (1630-1694) Tonson Wedderburn, Alexander, 1st Earl of Rosslyn (1733-1805) Willes, Edward (c.1723-1787) Wolsey, Thomas (c.1475-1530) Yates, Joseph (1722-1770) Yorke, Charles (1722-1770) Persons referred to in commentary Adams, Richard (1709/10-1774) Ashurst, William (1725-1807) Aston, Richard (1717-1778) Bathurst, Henry, 2nd Earl (1714-1794) Becket, Thomas (1722-1813) Blackstone, William (1723-1780) Camden, Charles Pratt, 1st Earl (1714-1794) de Grey, William (1719-1781) Donaldson, Alexander (1727-1794) Eyre, Sir James (1734-1799) Gould, Henry (1710-1794) Howard, Thomas, 3rd Earl of Effingham (1746-1791) Law, Rt Rev Edmund (1703-1787) Mansfield, William Murray, 1st Earl (1705-1793) Millar, Andrew (1705-1768) Nares, John (1716-1786) Perrott, George (1710-1780) Sewell, Thomas (c.1710-1784) Smythe, Sir Sidney Stafford (1705-1778) Taylor, Robert (fl.1763) Thomson, James (1700-1748) Willes, Edward (c.1723-1787) Places referred to America Arabia Edinburgh England Greece Ireland London Mongolia Prussia Rome Scotland Places referred to in commentary Berwick Glasgow Great Britain London Scotland Westminster York Legislation referred to Statute of Monopolies, 1624, 21 Jac.I, c.3 Licensing Act, 1662, 13 & 14 Car.II, c.33 Act for an Union of the two Kingdoms of England and Scotland, 1707, 5 & 6 Anne, c.8 Statute of Anne, 1710, 8 Anne, c.19 Legislation referred to in commentary Statute of Anne, 1710, 8 Anne, c.19 Universities Act, 1775, 15 Geo.III, c.53 Cases referred to Stationers' Company v. Seymour (1677) 1 Mod. 256 Eyre v. Walker (1735) NA, c.11 1520/29 Pope v. Curl (1741) 2 Atk. 342 Tonson v. Walker (1752) NA, c.11 1106/18, 3 Swans 672 Basket v. University of Cambridge (1758) 2 Keny. 397, 1 Black W. 105, 2 Burr. 661 Duke of Queensbury v. Shebbeare (1758) 2 Eden 329 Dodsley v. Kinnersley (1761) Amb. 403 Millar v. Taylor (1769) 4 Burr. 2303 Donaldson v. Becket (1774) 4 Burr. 2408, 2 Bro. P.C. 129 Cases referred to in commentary Millar v. Taylor (1769) 4 Burr. 2303 Donaldson v. Becket (1774) 4 Burr. 2408, 2 Bro. P.C. 129 Institutions referred to Court of Chancery Court of King's Bench Court of Sessions, Scotland House of Commons House of Lords Stamp Office (London) Star Chamber Stationers' Company University of Cambridge Westminster Hall Institutions referred to in commentary House of Lords University of Cambridge University of Oxford Key words authorship, legal concept of common law copyright inventions labour theory lobbying moral rights, theory patents, printing property theory Responsible editor Ronan Deazley Copyright status Original document is out of copyright. In so far as these scans are protected by copyright, they are made available on the same terms as translations and commentaries (see home page). | |||||
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| Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge, 10 West Road, Cambridge CB3 9DZ, UK | |||||||
