The Anglo-American Copyright Law and Nineteenth-Century Commercial Writers

Abstract

The following essay is a brief historical summary about the evolution of Anglo-American copyright laws from the eighteenth century to the end of the nineteenth century and their impact upon commercial writers. The essay focuses on the most important issues addressed by the first formal copyright protective statutes, emphasizing their similarities and differences and their subsequent development. It also highlights the role and contribution of the most predominant literary figures on the development of international copyright regulations. There is also a discussion of the main economic and social changes that influenced the evolution of copyright laws, and a description of the social and working conditions of commercial Anglo-American writers until the end of the nineteenth century.