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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:  | | Basel Printers' Statute, Basel (1531) Source: Staatsarchiv of Basel-Stadt. "Erkanntnisbuch" StABS, Ratsbücher B 4, p. 96 recto and verso Citation: Basel Printers' Statute (1531), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org Record Images Commentary Record-ID: d_1531 Full title Basel Printers' Statute of 28 October 1531 as laid out in the Basel "Statute Book" Full title original language Verordnung der Stadt Basel vom 28. Oktober 1531 betreffend die Angelegenheiten der Buchhändler aus dem Basler "Erkanntnisbuch" Abstract This is the first municipal printers' ordinance enacted in the printing centres of the Upper Rhine region, and it is also the first general prohibition of reprinting in the German lands. The document is part of the Basel Council's Statute Book (lit. "Book of Findings" - "Erkanntnisbuch"). It provides for a fixed three-year term of protection and stipulates that a sum of 100 gulden is to be paid as a fine by those who violate it. Moreover, the Statute forbids the printing of anything that "could harm the city of Basel", as well as any attempts by printers to entice away colleagues' staff by offering higher wages and so on. The Statute, therefore, tacitly acknowledges that the printing business requires investments not just in terms of capital but also in terms of manpower: hence this provision to prevent printers from losing their staff to competitors. The Basel Printers' Statute has been recognised as the very first act of municipal printing regulation in the early centres of printing in the Upper Rhine region during the sixteenth century. This commentary will focus on the distinction between the concept of "publishers' property", as it was formulated in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and the eighteenth-century notion of "intellectual property". Bibliography Hilty, Reto. "Das Basler Nachdruckverbot von 1531 im Lichte der gegenwärtigen Entwicklung", in Die Notwendigkeit des Urheberschutzes im Lichte seiner Geschichte, ed. by Robert Dittrich (Vienna: Manz, 1991), 20-45 Rehbinder, Manfred. "Die geschichtliche Entwicklung des schweizerischen Urheberrechts bis zum Bundesgesetz vom Jahre 1883", in Historische Studien zum Urheberrecht in Europa, ed. by Elmar Wadle (Berlin: Duncker & Humblot 1993), 65-80 Schnell, Johann. Rechtsquellen von Basel Stadt und Land (Basel: Schweighauser, 1856), 259 Related documents in this database Author Council of Basel Publisher Unpublished Location Basel Year 1531 Language German Source Staatsarchiv of Basel-Stadt. "Erkanntnisbuch" StABS, Ratsbücher B 4, p. 96 recto and verso Physical description N/A Illustrations tables N/A Persons referred to Cratander, Andreas (fl.1519-1538) Curio, Valentin (fl.1520-1522) Persons referred to in commentary Amerbach, Johann (1414-1513) Amerot, Adrien (d.1560) Badius, Josse (1462-1535) Bebel, Johann (fl.1530) Bibliander, Theodor (1504-1564) Budé, Guillaume (1467-1540) Cisneros, Francisco Jimenez de (1436-1517) Crastone, Giovanni (c.1420-1498) Cratander, Andreas (fl.1519-1538) Cuno, Johannes (1462-1513) Curio, Valentin (fl.1520-1522) Erasmus (1466/69-1536) Ferdinand I of Habsburg (1503-1564) Francis I (1494-1547) Froben, Johann (c.1460-1527) Froben, Hieronymus (1501-1563) Galen (c.130-c.201) Grynaeus, Simon (1493-1541) Gutenberg, Johannes (c.1400-1468) Henri II (1519-1559) Hervagius Holbein, Hans (1497-1543) Isingrin, Michael (fl.1539) Koberger, Anton (c.1445-1513) Köpfel, Wolfgang (1478-1541) Lachner, Wolfgang (c.1465-1518) Luther, Martin (1483-1546) Manutius, Aldus (1449/50-1515) Melanchthon, Philip (1497-1560) Oekolampadius, Johannes (1482-1531) Oporin, Johann (1507-1568) Petit, Jean (fl.1534) Petri, Johann (1441-1511) Plattner, Thomas (1499-1582) Reuchlin, Johannes (1455-1522) Ruppel, Berthold (d.1495) Schabeler, Johann (fl.1495) Schmück, Michel (1535-1600) Spangenberg, Cyriacus (1528-1604) St Jerome (c.342-420) Warham, William (c.1450-1532) Winter, Ruprecht (fl.1518-1545) Places referred to Basel Places referred to in commentary Augsburg Alcala Basel Florence Frankfurt Freiburg Haguenau Leipzig Leuven Lyon Mainz Milan Nuremberg Paris Pavia Piacenza Rome Strasbourg Venice Legislation referred to Basel Printers' Statute 1531 Legislation referred to in commentary Basel Printers' Statute 1531 Cases referred to Curio v. Cratander (1522) Cases referred to in commentary Curio v. Cratander (1522) Institutions referred to Basel City Council Institutions referred to in commentary Basel City Council Basel University Leuwen University Key words Bible, the book market book trade books, protected subject matter censorship customs defamation duration editions, new employer/employee relations foreign reprints guild regulation guilds humanism importation learning, the advancement of licensing, Approbation manuscript monopoly penalties, paid to fiscal authorities printing, history of privileges privileges, French privileges, German Imperial privileges, Papal privileges, Venetian property theory property theory, publishers' property public good Reformation, the Renaissance, the reprints scholarly writing typography Responsible editor Friedemann Kawohl Copyright status Photographic images and scans of public domain documents may be protected under some copyright laws and/or contractual restrictions apply. If you wish to use images of this document in other contexts, please contact the relevant archive (see source). Translation and commentary fall under the project licence (see home page). Photographic images and scans of public domain documents may be protected under some copyright laws and/or contractual restrictions apply. If you wish to use images of this document in other contexts, please contact the relevant archive (see source). Translation and commentary fall under the project licence (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 | |||||