This is a freely-accessible, publicly-funded digital archive that collects together significant documents relating to the history of copyright law and practice. The documents have been selected by national editors, with the input of an editorial advisory board. Key documents are, where appropriate, transcribed and translated. The editors have written commentaries, explaining the reasons for selecting documents and their significance. The project was launched in 2008, initially funded by the AHRC in relation to 5 countries. Since 2024 it is supported by the AHRC as UK research infrastructure. The archive now extends to more than 20 (including historical and religious) jurisdictions and over 700 primary source documents. They can be browsed by date/language/jurisdiction, or searched.
| 1537* | Ordinance on the Production and Use of Books in Printed Form, Denmark–Norway (Scandinavia) |
| 1539 | Appointment of Academic Printer at the University of Copenhagen (Scandinavia) |
| 1552 | Letter Concerning the Danish Bible (Scandinavia) |
| 1565 | Lauritz Benedicht's Printing Monopoly (Scandinavia) |
| 1572 | Privilege for Petrus Johannis Godhus (Scandinavia) |
| 1596* | Total Ban on Book Imports, Denmark–Norway (Scandinavia) |
| 1617 | Continued Ban on Possessing, Selling or Distributing Imported Books, Denmark–Norway (Scandinavia) |
| 1643* | Establishment of the First Printing House in Norway (Scandinavia) |
| 1670 | Exclusive Rights to the Book Trade in Christiania (Scandinavia) |
| 1684* | Renewed Swedish Censorship Laws (Scandinavia) Commentary: [1] |
| 1686 | Abolition of All Monopolies in the Book Trade in Norway (Scandinavia) Commentary: [1] |
| 1688 | Establishment of a Printing Press in Iceland (Scandinavia) Commentary: [1] |
| 1688 | Laws Concerning Printing, Censorship, and Distribution of Books and Almanacs, Denmark–Norway (Scandinavia) |
| 1701* | Censorship Instruction for Newspapers, Denmark–Norway (Scandinavia) Commentary: [1] |
| 1721 | Printer Joachim Wielandt's Privilege for Popular Chapbooks, Denmark–Norway (Scandinavia) Commentary: [1] |
| 1723 | Freedom to Print Non-Privileged Books, Denmark–Norway (Scandinavia) |
| 1737 | Privilege of Printing Pontoppidan's Catechism Granted to the Royal Orphanage (Scandinavia) |
| 1741* | The Danish Copyright Ordinance (Scandinavia) Commentary: [1] |
| 1748 | Privilege Granted to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to Print Almanacs (Scandinavia) |
| 1752 | Regulations and Rules for the Printing Industry in Sweden (Scandinavia) |
| 1764 | Licence to Establish an Office of Advertisements in the City of Bergen (Scandinavia) Commentary: [1] |
| 1766* | The Swedish Freedom of the Press Ordinance (Scandinavia) Commentary: [1] |
| 1770 | Abolishment of Censorship (Scandinavia) Commentary: [1] |
| 1771 | Rescript Limiting the Freedom Allowed by the 1770 Legislation (Scandinavia) Commentary: [1] |
| 1773 | Rescript on Post-Publication Censorship (Scandinavia) Commentary: [1] |
| 1799* | Renewed Censorship Legislation, Denmark–Norway (Scandinavia) |
| 1810 | Swedish Freedom of the Press Ordinance (Scandinavia) Commentary: [1] |
| 1812* | Swedish Freedom of the Press Ordinance (Scandinavia) |
| 1841 | Swedish Ordinance on the Limitation of Terms of Protection (Scandinavia) Commentary: [1] |
| 1876 | Book Printer H. J. Jensen vs. The Poet Henrik Ibsen (Scandinavia) |
| 1876 | Act on the Protection of Written Property, Norway (Scandinavia) |
| 1877* | Swedish Copyright Act (Scandinavia) Commentary: [1] |
| 1896 | Regarding Norway’s Accession to the Berne Convention (Scandinavia) |
