Enter the Printing Press

1042 A.D.: Printing by movable type prompted the Song Dynasty to consider a copyright of sorts, in order to protect the sole right of the Imperial College to print and publish the Chinese classics. At the same time, a book, Biographical Sketch of the Capital of the Northern Song, was embossed with a stamp of declaration, which is remarkably similar to the modern copyright notice:

Printed by the Cheng Family of Mei Shan. The right has been registered with the competent authority. No reprinting without authorisation is allowed.

1456 A.D.: the European printing press was invented, facilitating greater dissemination of copies. The printer (the owner of the press) was, in many ways, more important than the author or owner of a manuscript in that the printing industry determined what was lucrative enough to print. Most authors received a single payment for their work; after that it was owned, produced and distributed by the printer.

1476 A.D.: William Caxton brings the printing press to England, prompting the foundations of modern copyright law. The English government instituted a licensing law that required printers to register their names, locations, and titles of works they wanted to print. If approved, the Crown granted the printer the right to "copye" the work. The rights were held by the printer, not the creator of the work.

1534-1538 A.D.: In an effort to squelch texts that criticized his reign, Henry VIII increased the power of printers by prohibiting the import of foreign books, as well as the publication of "naughty printed books" (these books were subversive, not pornographic). Printers were required to get a license from the Privy Council (also known as The Star Chamber), before printing any book.

1557 A.D.: Henry's daughter, Mary Tudor ("Bloody Mary"), granted the Stationers' Company (a printer's guild), a monopoly on printing in 1557. The first printer to enter a book in the Company’s register acquired a right to the title or "copy". Thereafter, the right could be transferred, like any other property. The text’s creator of the text held little power over the work once the manuscript was sold.

1649-1660 A.D.: Cromwell's Commonwealth required Parliamentary licenses for all publications. In an effort to maintain governmental control, all presses outside of London, Oxford, and Cambridge were banned. Concurrently, John Milton protested censorship in his Areopagitica and called for a free press.

1709 A.D.: In an attempt to thwart Puritan ideas, Queen Anne of England used the Stationer's Company to try and control what got printed. In turn, John Locke and other thinkers, called for a free press. Simultaneously, "pirate" publishers in Scotland and Ireland took successful works, re-typeset the text and sold the books inexpensively. They did not pay the author or original publisher. Few new works were published during this period. These issues found the Stationer’s Company bellowing for a new licensing system, in order to regain control on publishing monopolies. Ultimately, Parliament passed the Statute of Anne, which actually favored authors over publishers. The Statute was billed as "An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by vesting the Copies of Printed Books in the Authors or purchasers of such Copies, during the Times therein mentioned." The Statute created a 21-year term for works already in print, and a 14-year term for all works published thereafter. Printers were required to provide nine copies to the Stationer's Company for distribution to the Royal Library, and other important libraries throughout England and Scotland.

1774 A.D.: Donaldson v. Beckett. The House of Lords held that there was no common law copyright, once a work was given to a publisher or printer. For authors and creators, the finding stripped the natural right to control the creation as soon as they relinquished the work to a publisher. Once released, the statutory law controlled what happened to the work. After the statutory period, the works became part of the public domain.