American copyright law got Charles Dickens down

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard arguments in MGM v. Grokster, a case that pits music and movie companies against Grokster and StreamCast. Both companies have made programs that let users share files online, including copyrighted music, movies, and TV shows.

At issue: whether the companies that make such programs should be held accountable when people use them to infringe someone else's copyright. Many in Hollywood say "yes." Many in Silicon Valley say "no." We say, "time to take a look at the history of copyright."


Today's Knowledge
Copyright Noticed



Ever since William Caxton sold England's first printed books in the 15th century, laws have been passed to regulate publishing rights. But the first publishing laws had as much to do with the crown's rights to censor ideas and collect revenues as with the rights of authors or publishers.

In fact, in the old days, authors hardly had any rights at all. Booksellers who published original works enjoyed what amounted to perpetual monopolies over them. The booksellers, not the authors, could even pass exclusive rights to profitable original works down to their heirs.

Queen Anne's Authorial Rights

That remained the case in England until the Statute of Queen Anne went into effect in 1710. This landmark act, the first full-fledged copyright act in the English-speaking world, said that authors should own the copyrights on their creations.

The statute also established that copyrights should expire after a certain period--in most cases, 14 years, with a one-time-only option to renew for a second 14-year term. That limitation helped create the public domain, the collection of creative works that have passed out of copyright and are now free for all to use and distribute.

The Colonies' Copyright Theft

The Statute of Queen Anne protected authors in Great Britain, but not in America. During the 18th century, American booksellers regularly sold British writers' works without permission (the wily Benjamin Franklin was one prominent offender). Still, America's founders clearly took copyright seriously. Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution says Congress can "promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries."

The United States passed its first major copyright law in 1790, but it protected only native authors. During the 19th century, American publishers continued to sell thousands of copies of British books without permission--and without ever having to pay their authors or legitimate publishers a penny.

Hugely popular British writers like Walter Scott, Benjamin Disraeli, and Charles Dickens tore their hair out in frustration as cheap pirated editions of their novels flooded the American market. Dickens protested against such piracy when he visited America in 1842, but many Americans didn't want to hear it. Piracy meant cheap British books.

The League of Copyrighted Nations

Eventually, the need for international copyright agreements became clear, and in 1886-87 a group of nations signed the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. Each country agreed to extend its domestic copyright protections to any author from any of the other signing countries. One notable holdout was the United States, which didn't join until 1988 (though it worked out bilateral agreements with many nations years earlier).

The U.S. Congress passed the Copyright Act of 1976, which established the basic term of protection as the life of the author plus 50 years. In 1992, copyright renewal was made automatic, which prevented the copyright on many works protected before 1978 from expiring. In 1998, the term of protection was extended again--to the author's life plus 70 years, unless the work was made for hire or was anonymous or pseudonymous, in which case it was protected for 95 years after its publication.

Why so many extensions? For one thing, the heirs of early-20th-century authors--like, say, Walt Disney--aren't anxious to see their copyrights expire. Nor do they want to see their intellectual property shared at the click of a mouse.

Jeffery Vail
March 30, 2005

Want to learn more?
Browse a timeline of copyright history
http://arl.cni.org/info/frn/copy/timeline.html





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Toshiba's New Battery Recharges In One Minute

Toshiba announces a new lithium-ion battery -- the type used in virtually all laptops -- that recharges 60 times faster than current batteries.

TechWeb News



Toshiba on Tuesday announced a new lithium-ion battery -- the type used in virtually all laptops -- that recharges 60 times faster than current batteries and loses less than one percent of its capacity after 1,000 recharges.

The new battery can be refilled to 80 percent of capacity in one minute, Toshiba claimed, significantly less time than the one-to-four hours needed for lithium-ion batteries now in use.

According to Toshiba, the secret's in the negative electrode. "Nano-particles prevent organic liquid electrolytes from reducing during battery recharging," said Toshiba in a statement. "The nano-particles quickly absorb and store vast amount of lithium ions, without causing any deterioration in the electrode."

The Japanese technology giant said that it expected to put the new batteries into play in 2006, initially in automotive and industrial applications. One use, Toshiba said, would be within hybrid vehicles, which store power generated when, for instance, the car decelerates.

Toshiba said it would move the new batteries into consumer electronics applications, such as laptops and cameras, at a later date.