<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Read this for a brief history of Copyright:
>
> http://slaw.ca/2006/04/25/publishers-and-copyright/
In what world was that brief? :o)
Anyway, it was hardly a history of copyright. A text that doesn't mention
the Berne convention can hardly be called the history of copyright (even
though the author of the above piece is undoubtedly smart, he hasn't
written a history of copyright).
Modern copyright begins with the Berne Convention, the first international
convention of copyright. Since WTO pretty much requires you to sign the
ratrify the treaty if you want to be a member almost all countries have
signed (Wikipedia says 160 signatories). Wikipedia has the brief version:
<URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berne_Convention >
Cliff notes:
- It was created in 1886.
- Instigated by Victor Hugo (an artist, not a cabal of coprporations)
- Carries with it a lot from French copyright law (which is a good thing)
- It took the USA 104 years to get their act together and sign on (due to
the French influence)
- It is the cause of some very good changes to the US copyright system
(automatic protection and extended moral rights)
- US copyright is still messed up on certain points (making statutory
damages available only to registered works is fucking stupid)
--
Andreas Haugstrup Pedersen
<URL: http://www.solitude.dk/ >
Commentary on media, communication, culture and technology.
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