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Prussian Statute Book (ALR), Berlin (1794)
Source: Württembergische Landesbibliothek Stuttgart A18/725-2,2
Citation:
Prussian Statute Book (ALR), Berlin (1794), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org
Back | Record | Images | Commentaries: [1]
Translation only | Transcription only | Show all | Bundled images as pdf
12 translated pages
Chapter 1 Page 1
Title page with a copper engraving in
profile of King Frederick William II
of Prussia:
the legend above the portrait reads:
"Frederick William the Legislator"
Allegorical engraving of the goddess
Justitia
[by the engraver] Daniel Berger 1792
Chapter 1 Page 2
General
STATE LAWS
for the
PRUSSIAN STATES
__________
First Part
______________
Second Edition
____________________
Berlin, 1794
published by Gottfried Carl Nauck.
Chapter 1 Page 3
399
[...]
7) Publishing Contracts
§. 996. The publishing right consists in the
right to reproduce a written work by means of
printing, and to sell it exclusively at fairs,
to the booksellers, or otherwise.
§. 997. Not only books are objects of
the publishing right, but also maps, copper
engravings, topographical drawings, and
musical compositions.
Chapter 1 Page 4
400
§. 998. As a rule, a bookseller can acquire
the publishing right only by making a written
contract with the author.
§. 999. If such a written contract has not
been made, but the manuscript has been delivered
by the writer, then an oral agreement will be taken
to hold, as far as the fee promised to the author is
concerned, but in every other respect the circum-
stances of the two parties are to be judged
solely according to the statutory provisions.
§. 1000. The author is obliged to fulfil the
written contract by submitting his manuscript
within the space of time agreed on.
§. 1001. If he fails to do so, the publisher
is entitled to revoke the contract.
§. 1002. If the date by which the manuscript
is to be delivered is not specified in the
contract, it will be assumed that the former
must be submitted in time for the publisher to
be able to bring the work with him to the next
Leipzig fair.
§. 1003. If it appears, from the length or
scope of the work, or from the brief time that
there may be left until the next fair, or from
any other circumstances, that the author ought
to be allowed a longer period, then it is up to
the author to specify the details of this pro-
vision which is not covered for in the contract.
§. 1004. The publisher can, however, urge
him to fix a specific date for delivery of the
manuscript, failing which he must accept that
the former can withdraw from the contract.
§. 1005. If circumstances or obstacles arise
which induce the author not to publish the
promised work at all, he is entitled to
withdraw from the contract.
Chapter 1 Page 5
On contracts concerning actions. 401
§. 1006. But the author must then indemnify the
publisher for the real losses suffered by him
as a result of any arrangements that he had already
made for the printing of the work and which are
now rendered redundant by this withdrawal from the
contract.
§. 1007. If, however, the writer brings out a
work he had promised to one publisher in the
publishing house of another, or at his own expense,
within a year after having rescinded his contract
with the first publisher, and without the latter's
knowledge and consent, he must also indemnify this
publisher for the profit thereby lost.
§. 1008. If the writer considers it necessary
to make changes to the scope or arrangement of the
work before it has begun to be printed, the publisher
may choose whether to accept such amendments, or to
revoke the contract.
§. 1009. If, however, the writer makes such changes
after printing has already begun, without the publisher's
consent, then he is liable to compensate the latter
for any losses that may arise from this.
§. 1010. In those cases where fulfilment of the
publishing contract proves impossible for either of
the two parties, the provisions of §. 879f. are to
apply.
§. 1011. If a new, unmodified reprint of a work
is undertaken in the same format [as the original],
this constitutes a new impression [Auflage].
§. 1012. If, however, a work is printed from
scratch, in a modified format, or with changes to the
content, then this constitutes a new edition [Ausgabe].
§. 1013. If the publishing contract does not
specify the number of copies of the first impression, then
Chapter 1 Page 6
402
the publisher is entitled to arrange subsequent
new impressions without the explicit consent of
the author.
§. 1014. If, however, the number has been
specified, then the publisher wishing to undertake
a re-impression must come to terms about this with
the author or his heirs.
§. 1015. If the parties involved are unable to
come to an understanding about this, then half of
the fee paid for the first impression/edition is
to be taken as a standard.
§. 1016. On the other hand, the publishing
right, as a rule, unless otherwise agreed in the
written contract, extends only to the first edition
of the work, including any subsequent volumes
and sequels.
§. 1017. Thus, the first publisher can never
undertake a new edition without having made a new
contract about this with the author.
§. 1018. But the author, too, cannot undertake
a new edition until the first publisher has sold
[all copies of] the impressions legitimately
carried out by him in accordance with §. 1013 and
§. 1014.
§. 1019. If the author and bookseller are
unable to come to terms regarding a new edition,
then the former, should he wish to publish such
a new edition with another publisher, must first
of all buy up from the first publisher all copies
of the first edition still in stock, paying him
the bookseller's price of these in cash.
§. 1020. The author's right whereby no new edition
may be undertaken without his being consulted
beforehand, is transferred - unless otherwise
Chapter 1 Page 7
On contracts concerning actions. 403
explicitly stipulated in writing - to his
heirs.
§. 1021. The abovementioned restrictions of
the publishing right in favour of the author shall
not apply if the bookseller has entrusted a writer
with the task of preparing a work based on an idea
that he, the booksseller, had conceived, and if the
writer takes on this task without making any
specific reservation in written form; or where the
bookseller has engaged several authors to work
together on the execution of such an idea.
§. 1022. In such cases the full publishing
right belongs to the bookseller from the very start,
and the author(s) cannot claim any right to
subsequent impressions and editions beyond what has
been explicitly reserved for them in the written
contract.
§. 1023. Commentaries on books to which someone
else has a publishing right may be printed separately.
However, such commentaries are not to be printed
together with the work itself, nor sold in this form
in [Prussian] royal territory, except with the
consent of the author and of his publisher.
§. 1024. Without the consent of the author and
his publisher, no one is allowed to incorporate
individual printed works into compilations, or to
print extracts from these as separate [new] editions.
§. 1025. However, extracts from works may certainly
be incorporated into other works or compilations.
§. 1026. New editions of foreign authors,
who are based outside of the German Empire or
the [Prussian] royal lands and write in a
Chapter 1 Page 8
404
foreign language, and whose publishers do not
visit the Frankfurt or Leipzig fairs, can be
reprinted, unless their publishers have obtained
a Prussian privilege forbidding this.
§. 1027. With regard to the publishing right,
translations are to be treated as new works.
§. 1028. Commissioning a new translation by
another translator does not constitute a reprint
of the earlier version.
§. 1029. If there is no publishing firm left
which has a publishing right to the new edition of
a book, and the author's right according to §. 1020
has also expired, then anyone is entitled to under-
take a new edition of the work.
§. 1030. However, if in such a case any of the
author's children are still alive, the new publisher
must make arrangements with them regarding the
edition which he wishes to undertake.
§. 1031. Moreover, all the conditions that are
stipulated for new works are to apply to the
relationship between this new publisher and the writer
who prepares the new edition for publication.
§. 1032. The reprinting of such editions, too,
is forbidden where those very same circumstances
apply, under which the reprinting of a new work, in
accordance with the above regulations, is not
allowed.
§. 1033. Insofar as foreign states permit
reprinting to the detriment of (our) local publishers,
the latter are to be allowed to act in the same
way towards the publishers of those countries.
§. 1034. Those who nevertheless go ahead and
reprint works which may not be reprinted according to
the above principles, must indemnify the legitimate
publisher.
Chapter 1 Page 9
405
§. 1035. This compensation is to consist of
a refund of the fee which the legitimate publisher
paid to the author and of the additional expenses
incurred by him on the better ink and paper quality
of the legitimate edition, calculated by comparison
with the cost of the reprint edition.
§. 1036. Furthermore, illicit reprints are not
to be imported into our country, on pain of
confiscation, and unauthorised reprinters are to
be severely punished in accordance with the further
provisions of penal legislation (Part II,
Section XX, Paragraph XIV).
[...]
Chapter 1 Page 10
GENERAL
STATUTE-BOOK
for the
PRUSSIAN STATES,
________
Third Volume.
Chapter 1 Page 11
On criminal self-interest and deceit. 1359
[...]
[Heading in margin:] 6) The reprinting of books.
§. 1294. Books for which a subject of the Prussian
crown has the publishing right are not to be reprinted
by anyone.
§. 1295. If the legitimate publisher has obtained
an explicit privilege, then the reprinter of a book which
has such a privilege printed on the first pages, or whose
title-page (or its verso) bears an indication of this
privilege's content, is liable to the penalty specified in
the privilege.
§. 1296. a) Even if the punishment specified in a
particular privilege is not acted out, the reprint copies
must nevertheless, on request of the legitimate publisher,
be confiscated and made unusable for sale; or they are to
be handed over to the rightful publisher if he so wishes.
§. 1296. b) However, in the latter case the legitimate
publisher who wishes to
Chapter 1 Page 12
1360. Part Two. Twentieth Title.
take over the reprint copies must take into account
the expenses made by the reprinter in producing these
and offer this sum as compensation to the latter, or
if such compensation is not appropriate,* the legitimate
publisher must pay this sum into the penalty box.**
§. 1297. a) Insofar as reprinting as such is forbidden,
no one may, on pain of the same penalty, carry on trade
with books reprinted abroad.
§. 1297. b) Bookbinders are forbidden from venturing
to trade in unbound works and in merely stitched books, on
pain of confiscation of the work and the proceeds from any
such copies already sold.
§. 1297. c) An author can certainly sell works that he
has published on his own account, either by acting himself
as the vendor or through the agency of others; but such sales
must not take place in shops open to the public, nor in places
where publishers are operating, nor may they be carried out
by bookbinders on the author's behalf.
§. 1297. d) Infringements of this regulation are likewise
to be punished with the penalty of confiscation in accordance
with §. 1297. b).
_________________
*) i.e. because the sum would exceed the penalty which the
reprinter was liable to pay to the fiscal authorities.
**) i.e. the penalty-box of the adjudicating court.
Translation by: Friedemann Kawohl
Source: Württembergische Landesbibliothek Stuttgart A18/725-2,2
Citation:
Prussian Statute Book (ALR), Berlin (1794), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org
Back | Record | Images | Commentaries: [1]
Translation only | Transcription only | Show all | Bundled images as pdf
12 translated pages
Chapter 1 Page 1
Title page with a copper engraving in
profile of King Frederick William II
of Prussia:
the legend above the portrait reads:
"Frederick William the Legislator"
Allegorical engraving of the goddess
Justitia
[by the engraver] Daniel Berger 1792
Chapter 1 Page 2
General
STATE LAWS
for the
PRUSSIAN STATES
__________
First Part
______________
Second Edition
____________________
Berlin, 1794
published by Gottfried Carl Nauck.
Chapter 1 Page 3
399
[...]
§. 996. The publishing right consists in the
right to reproduce a written work by means of
printing, and to sell it exclusively at fairs,
to the booksellers, or otherwise.
§. 997. Not only books are objects of
the publishing right, but also maps, copper
engravings, topographical drawings, and
musical compositions.
Chapter 1 Page 4
400
§. 998. As a rule, a bookseller can acquire
the publishing right only by making a written
contract with the author.
§. 999. If such a written contract has not
been made, but the manuscript has been delivered
by the writer, then an oral agreement will be taken
to hold, as far as the fee promised to the author is
concerned, but in every other respect the circum-
stances of the two parties are to be judged
solely according to the statutory provisions.
§. 1000. The author is obliged to fulfil the
written contract by submitting his manuscript
within the space of time agreed on.
§. 1001. If he fails to do so, the publisher
is entitled to revoke the contract.
§. 1002. If the date by which the manuscript
is to be delivered is not specified in the
contract, it will be assumed that the former
must be submitted in time for the publisher to
be able to bring the work with him to the next
Leipzig fair.
§. 1003. If it appears, from the length or
scope of the work, or from the brief time that
there may be left until the next fair, or from
any other circumstances, that the author ought
to be allowed a longer period, then it is up to
the author to specify the details of this pro-
vision which is not covered for in the contract.
§. 1004. The publisher can, however, urge
him to fix a specific date for delivery of the
manuscript, failing which he must accept that
the former can withdraw from the contract.
§. 1005. If circumstances or obstacles arise
which induce the author not to publish the
promised work at all, he is entitled to
withdraw from the contract.
Chapter 1 Page 5
On contracts concerning actions. 401
§. 1006. But the author must then indemnify the
publisher for the real losses suffered by him
as a result of any arrangements that he had already
made for the printing of the work and which are
now rendered redundant by this withdrawal from the
contract.
§. 1007. If, however, the writer brings out a
work he had promised to one publisher in the
publishing house of another, or at his own expense,
within a year after having rescinded his contract
with the first publisher, and without the latter's
knowledge and consent, he must also indemnify this
publisher for the profit thereby lost.
§. 1008. If the writer considers it necessary
to make changes to the scope or arrangement of the
work before it has begun to be printed, the publisher
may choose whether to accept such amendments, or to
revoke the contract.
§. 1009. If, however, the writer makes such changes
after printing has already begun, without the publisher's
consent, then he is liable to compensate the latter
for any losses that may arise from this.
§. 1010. In those cases where fulfilment of the
publishing contract proves impossible for either of
the two parties, the provisions of §. 879f. are to
apply.
§. 1011. If a new, unmodified reprint of a work
is undertaken in the same format [as the original],
this constitutes a new impression [Auflage].
§. 1012. If, however, a work is printed from
scratch, in a modified format, or with changes to the
content, then this constitutes a new edition [Ausgabe].
§. 1013. If the publishing contract does not
specify the number of copies of the first impression, then
Chapter 1 Page 6
402
the publisher is entitled to arrange subsequent
new impressions without the explicit consent of
the author.
§. 1014. If, however, the number has been
specified, then the publisher wishing to undertake
a re-impression must come to terms about this with
the author or his heirs.
§. 1015. If the parties involved are unable to
come to an understanding about this, then half of
the fee paid for the first impression/edition is
to be taken as a standard.
§. 1016. On the other hand, the publishing
right, as a rule, unless otherwise agreed in the
written contract, extends only to the first edition
of the work, including any subsequent volumes
and sequels.
§. 1017. Thus, the first publisher can never
undertake a new edition without having made a new
contract about this with the author.
§. 1018. But the author, too, cannot undertake
a new edition until the first publisher has sold
[all copies of] the impressions legitimately
carried out by him in accordance with §. 1013 and
§. 1014.
§. 1019. If the author and bookseller are
unable to come to terms regarding a new edition,
then the former, should he wish to publish such
a new edition with another publisher, must first
of all buy up from the first publisher all copies
of the first edition still in stock, paying him
the bookseller's price of these in cash.
§. 1020. The author's right whereby no new edition
may be undertaken without his being consulted
beforehand, is transferred - unless otherwise
Chapter 1 Page 7
On contracts concerning actions. 403
explicitly stipulated in writing - to his
heirs.
§. 1021. The abovementioned restrictions of
the publishing right in favour of the author shall
not apply if the bookseller has entrusted a writer
with the task of preparing a work based on an idea
that he, the booksseller, had conceived, and if the
writer takes on this task without making any
specific reservation in written form; or where the
bookseller has engaged several authors to work
together on the execution of such an idea.
§. 1022. In such cases the full publishing
right belongs to the bookseller from the very start,
and the author(s) cannot claim any right to
subsequent impressions and editions beyond what has
been explicitly reserved for them in the written
contract.
§. 1023. Commentaries on books to which someone
else has a publishing right may be printed separately.
However, such commentaries are not to be printed
together with the work itself, nor sold in this form
in [Prussian] royal territory, except with the
consent of the author and of his publisher.
§. 1024. Without the consent of the author and
his publisher, no one is allowed to incorporate
individual printed works into compilations, or to
print extracts from these as separate [new] editions.
§. 1025. However, extracts from works may certainly
be incorporated into other works or compilations.
§. 1026. New editions of foreign authors,
who are based outside of the German Empire or
the [Prussian] royal lands and write in a
Chapter 1 Page 8
404
foreign language, and whose publishers do not
visit the Frankfurt or Leipzig fairs, can be
reprinted, unless their publishers have obtained
a Prussian privilege forbidding this.
§. 1027. With regard to the publishing right,
translations are to be treated as new works.
§. 1028. Commissioning a new translation by
another translator does not constitute a reprint
of the earlier version.
§. 1029. If there is no publishing firm left
which has a publishing right to the new edition of
a book, and the author's right according to §. 1020
has also expired, then anyone is entitled to under-
take a new edition of the work.
§. 1030. However, if in such a case any of the
author's children are still alive, the new publisher
must make arrangements with them regarding the
edition which he wishes to undertake.
§. 1031. Moreover, all the conditions that are
stipulated for new works are to apply to the
relationship between this new publisher and the writer
who prepares the new edition for publication.
§. 1032. The reprinting of such editions, too,
is forbidden where those very same circumstances
apply, under which the reprinting of a new work, in
accordance with the above regulations, is not
allowed.
§. 1033. Insofar as foreign states permit
reprinting to the detriment of (our) local publishers,
the latter are to be allowed to act in the same
way towards the publishers of those countries.
§. 1034. Those who nevertheless go ahead and
reprint works which may not be reprinted according to
the above principles, must indemnify the legitimate
publisher.
Chapter 1 Page 9
405
§. 1035. This compensation is to consist of
a refund of the fee which the legitimate publisher
paid to the author and of the additional expenses
incurred by him on the better ink and paper quality
of the legitimate edition, calculated by comparison
with the cost of the reprint edition.
§. 1036. Furthermore, illicit reprints are not
to be imported into our country, on pain of
confiscation, and unauthorised reprinters are to
be severely punished in accordance with the further
provisions of penal legislation (Part II,
Section XX, Paragraph XIV).
[...]
Chapter 1 Page 10
GENERAL
STATUTE-BOOK
for the
PRUSSIAN STATES,
________
Third Volume.
Chapter 1 Page 11
[...]
[Heading in margin:] 6) The reprinting of books.
§. 1294. Books for which a subject of the Prussian
crown has the publishing right are not to be reprinted
by anyone.
§. 1295. If the legitimate publisher has obtained
an explicit privilege, then the reprinter of a book which
has such a privilege printed on the first pages, or whose
title-page (or its verso) bears an indication of this
privilege's content, is liable to the penalty specified in
the privilege.
§. 1296. a) Even if the punishment specified in a
particular privilege is not acted out, the reprint copies
must nevertheless, on request of the legitimate publisher,
be confiscated and made unusable for sale; or they are to
be handed over to the rightful publisher if he so wishes.
§. 1296. b) However, in the latter case the legitimate
publisher who wishes to
Chapter 1 Page 12
take over the reprint copies must take into account
the expenses made by the reprinter in producing these
and offer this sum as compensation to the latter, or
if such compensation is not appropriate,* the legitimate
publisher must pay this sum into the penalty box.**
§. 1297. a) Insofar as reprinting as such is forbidden,
no one may, on pain of the same penalty, carry on trade
with books reprinted abroad.
§. 1297. b) Bookbinders are forbidden from venturing
to trade in unbound works and in merely stitched books, on
pain of confiscation of the work and the proceeds from any
such copies already sold.
§. 1297. c) An author can certainly sell works that he
has published on his own account, either by acting himself
as the vendor or through the agency of others; but such sales
must not take place in shops open to the public, nor in places
where publishers are operating, nor may they be carried out
by bookbinders on the author's behalf.
§. 1297. d) Infringements of this regulation are likewise
to be punished with the penalty of confiscation in accordance
with §. 1297. b).
_________________
*) i.e. because the sum would exceed the penalty which the
reprinter was liable to pay to the fiscal authorities.
**) i.e. the penalty-box of the adjudicating court.
Translation by: Friedemann Kawohl