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Venetian Reprint of the French Decree of 30 August 1777, on the duration of privileges, Venice (1780)
Source: N/A
Citation:
Venetian Reprint of the French Decree of 30 August 1777, on the duration of privileges, Venice (1780), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org
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may only expect the favour granted to him to be proportional
to his total expenditure and to the significance of his enterprise:
that the continuing improvement of a work, however, makes
it necessary that the bookseller should have the benefit of
the privilege during the lifetime of the author whose work
he has agreed to publish, but that to grant the privilege
for a longer period would be to make a rightful property of
a benefit granted at the King’s pleasure to prolong a favour
contrary to the very entitlement which determines its duration;
it would be tantamount to the enshrining of a monopoly, since
a single bookseller would then determine in perpetuity the
price of a particular book; finally, it would perpetuate the
causes of abuse and forgery, by denying provincial printers a
legitimate use for their presses. His Majesty has determined
that a regulation restricting the duration of the exclusive
rights of publishers to the period stipulated by the privilege
would be to their advantage, since a benefit which is limited
but certain, is preferable to one which is indefinite
No Transcription available.
Source: N/A
Citation:
Venetian Reprint of the French Decree of 30 August 1777, on the duration of privileges, Venice (1780), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org
Back | Record | Images | No Commentaries
Translation only | Transcription only | Show all | Bundled images as pdf
may only expect the favour granted to him to be proportional
to his total expenditure and to the significance of his enterprise:
that the continuing improvement of a work, however, makes
it necessary that the bookseller should have the benefit of
the privilege during the lifetime of the author whose work
he has agreed to publish, but that to grant the privilege
for a longer period would be to make a rightful property of
a benefit granted at the King’s pleasure to prolong a favour
contrary to the very entitlement which determines its duration;
it would be tantamount to the enshrining of a monopoly, since
a single bookseller would then determine in perpetuity the
price of a particular book; finally, it would perpetuate the
causes of abuse and forgery, by denying provincial printers a
legitimate use for their presses. His Majesty has determined
that a regulation restricting the duration of the exclusive
rights of publishers to the period stipulated by the privilege
would be to their advantage, since a benefit which is limited
but certain, is preferable to one which is indefinite
No Transcription available.