Copyright Act 1801
| Year | 1801 |
(41 Geo. 3) C A P. CVII.
[2d July 1801]
'WHEREAS it is expedient that further Protection should be afforded to the Authors of Books, and the Purchasers of the Copies and Copyright of the same, in the United Kingdom ofGreat Britain and Ireland ;' may it therefore please your Majesty that it may be enacted; and be it enacted by the King's most ExcellentMajesty, 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 Author of any Book or Books already composed, and not printed or published, and the Author of any Book or Books which shall hereafter be composed, and the Assignee or Assigns of such Authors respectively, shall have the sole Liberty of printing and re-printing such Book and Books, for the Term of fourteen Years, to commence from the Day of first publishing the same, and no longer; and that if any other Bookseller, Printer, or other Person whosoever, in any Part of the said United Kingdom, or in any Part of theBritish Dominions in Europe , shall, from and after the passing of this Act, print, re-print, or import, or shall cause to be printed, re-printed, or imported, any such Book or Books, without the Consent of the Proprietor or Proprietors of the Copyright of and in such Book or Books first had and obtained in Writing, signed in the Presence of two or more credible Witnesses, or, knowing the same to be so printed, re-printed, or imported, without such Consent of such Proprietor or Proprietors, shall sell, publish, or expose to Sale, or cause to be sold, published, or exposed to Sale, or shall have in his or their Possession for Sale, any such Book or Books, without such Consent first had and obtained as aforesaid, then such Offender or Offenders shall be liable to a special Action on the Case, at the Suit of the Proprietor or Proprietors of the Copyright of such Book or Books so unlawfully printed, re-printed, or imported, or published or exposed to Sale, or being in the Possession of such Offender or Offenders for Sale as aforesaid, contrary to the true Intent and Meaning of this Act; and every such Proprietor and Proprietors shall and may, by and in such Special Action upon the Case to be so brought against such Offender or Offenders in any Court of Record in that Part of the said United Kingdom, or of the British Dominions in Europe , in which the Offence shall be committed, recover such Damages as the Jury on the Trial of such Action, or on the Execution of a Writ of Enquiry thereon, shall give or assess, together with Double Costs of Suit; in which Action no Wager of Law, Essoign, Privilege, or Protection, nor more than one Imparlance shall be allowed; and all and every such Offender or Offenders shall also forfeit such Book or Books, and all and every Sheet and Sheets being Part of such Book or Books, and shall deliver the same to the Proprietor or Proprietors of the Copyright of such Book or Books, upon Order of any Court of Record in which any Action or Suit, in Law or Equity, shall be commenced or prosecuted by such Proprietor or Proprietors, to be made on Motion or Petition to the said Court; and the said Proprietor or Proprietors shall forthwith damask or make Waste Paper of the said Book or Books, and Sheet or Sheets respectively; and all and every such Offender or Offenders shall also forfeit the Sum of Threepence for every Sheet which shall be found in his or their Custody, either printed or printing, or published or exposed to Sale contrary to the true Intent and Meaning of this Act, the one Moiety thereof to the King's most Excellent Majesty, his Heirs and Successors, and the other Moiety thereof to any Person or Persons who shall sue for the same in any such Courtof Record, by Action of Debt, Bill, Plaint, or Information, in which no Wager of Law, Essoign, Privilege, or Protection, nor more than one Imparlance shall be allowed: Provided always, That after the Expiration of the said Term of fourteen Years, the Right of printing or disposing of Copies shall return to the Authors thereof, if they are then living, for another Term of fourteen Years.
II Act shall not extend to Books already published, nor indemnify against Penalties under former Acts in force at the Union of Great Britain and Ireland.
II. Provided also, and be it further enacted, That nothing in this Act contained shall extend, or be construed to extend, to any Book or Books heretofore composed, and printed or published in any Part of the said United Kingdom, nor to exempt or indemnify any Person or Persons whomsoever, from or against any Penalties or Actions, to which he, she, or they shall or may have become, or shall or may hereafter be liable for or on Account of the unlawfully printing, re-printing, or importing such Book or...
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