Literary Copyright Reform in Early Victorian England

Talfourd’s first Copyright Bill was presented in 1837, and the public and Parliamentary controversy it provoked is reflected in contemporary pamphlets, correspondence, and hundreds of petitions presented to Parliament, as well as in the changing aims of the Bill itself. In addition to the expected debate as to the nature of literary property and the economic effects on the publishing trade, discussion of copyright law raised broader questions; the relative values of literature and science, the importance of public education, the dangers of monopolies, and the nature of public interest. In a period of social, political and technological upheaval, these were incendiary matters. Talfourd audaciously demanded not only a considerable extension of copyright term, but also international protection. This book explores and sets in context the making of the Copyright Act 1842, using it to illuminate enduring issues and difficulties in the legal concept of intellectual property.

• First account of the making of the 1842 Copyright Act • Sets the Act in its legal and historical context, with particular relation to the contemporary radical political agenda • Offers thorough-going analysis of the many Bills from 1837 onwards which formed the bases of the Act

1. Introduction: the 1842 Act - passage and position; Copyright - its nature and history; Talfourd and his aims; Conflicting rationales; 2. Petitions and copyright: Petitioning - parliamentary history and background; Petitions; forms and formalities; Petitions; volume and subjects; 3. Critics in Parliament: The Radical nexus; Political cross-currents; Brougham; Macaulay; 4. Critics in the book trade I: print workers and their allies: Printers; Master Printers; Journeymen; Compositors; Pressmen; Machinemen; The dispute spreads - journeymen 1839–1840; The process of diffusion; Associated trades; Bookbinders; Papermakers; Other print-related specialisms; Supporters of cheap print; Camp followers; 5. Critics in the book trade II: publishing and publishers: the book trade and authors; Cheap publications: the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge; Cheap Publications - the book trade; Co-operation and organisation; The campaign against the bills; Publisher’s petitions; Other means of protest; 6. The campaign in the daily press; London dailies; The Times; The Morning Chronicle; The Morning Post; Evening Papers; The Globe; The Courier; 7. Authors and the beginnings of authors’ organisations: Southey; Wordsworth: campaign manager; The making of the case for the bill: petitions in favour; The argument in the periodicals; 9. Conclusion.