Copyright Act 1775
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1775 c. 53 |
| Year | 1775 |
(15 Geo. 3) C A P. LIII.
'WHEREAS Authors have heretofore bequeathed or given, and may hereafter bequeath or give, the Copies of Books composed by them, to or in Trust for one of the two Universities in that Part ofGreat Britain called England , or to or in Trust for some of the Colleges or Houses of Learning within the same, or to or in Trust for the four Universities in Scotland , or to or in Trust for the several Colleges ofEton, Westminster , and Winchester , and in and by their several Wills or other Instruments of Donation, have directed or may direct, that the Profits arising from the printing and reprinting such Books shall be applied or appropriated as a Fund for the Advancement of Learning, and other beneficial Purposes of Education within the said Universities and Colleges aforesaid: And whereas such useful Purposes will frequently be frustrated, unless the sole printing and reprinting of such Books, the Copies of which have been or shall be so bequeathed or given as aforesaid, be preserved and secured to the said Universities, Colleges, and Houses of Learning respectively, in Perpetuity;' may it therefore please your Majestythat it may be enacted; and be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That the said Universities and Colleges respectively shall, at their respective Presses, have, for ever, the sole Liberty of printing and reprinting all such Books as shall at any Time heretofore have been, or (having not been heretofore published or assigned) shall at any Time hereafter be bequeathed, or otherwise given by the Author or Authors or the same respectively, or the Representatives of such Author or Authors, to or in Trust for the said Universities, or to or in Trust for any College or House of Learning within the same, or to or in Trust for the said four Universities inScotland , or to or in Trust for the said Colleges of Eton, Westminster , and Winchester , or any of them, for the Purposes aforesaid, unless the same shall have been bequeathed or given, or shall hereafter be bequeathed or given, for any Term of Years, or other limited Term; any Law or Usage to the contrary hereof in any wise notwithstanding.
II After June 24, 1775, Persons printing or selling such Books shall forfeit the same, and also 1 d. for every Sheet;
II. And it is hereby further enacted, That if any Bookseller, Printer, or other Person whatsoever, from and after the twenty-fourth Day ofJune , one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five, shall print, reprint, or import, or cause to be printed, reprinted, or imported, any such Book or Books; or, knowing the same to be so printed or reprinted, shall sell, publish, or expose to Sale, or cause to be sold, published, or exposed to Sale, any such Book or Books; then such Offender or Offenders shall forfeit such Book or Rooks, and all and every Sheet or Sheets, being Part of such Book or Books, to the...
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