The History Behind Copyright Law

The basic idea of copyright began in Britain in 1710 with the Statute of Anne. It was developed as some publishers were reprinting the work of different authors without their knowledge and permission. It was created to enable the author to have a control over the printing of his work, thus can get the financial benefits from his work done.

The financial compensation was thought to encourage an author to write more and create more refined work. It was established to declare the author of a work as its owner, having full exclusive rights to copy his work and concept of the fixed terms used for that copyright for a certain period of time after which it would become a public domain.

The copyright law itself is stated as: "for the encouragement of learned men to compose and write useful books". In the United States Constitution, it is defined as: "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors...the exclusive Right to their...Writings." Copyright lawyers are there to handle all the copyright related matters of the authors. In many cases, the original owner of the copyright may not be the author himself but the employer who has employed the author and the work may be termed as "work for hire".
Copyright law also known as “moral rights” is applicable to an expressible form of information which is discrete in a certain medium.

It is described along with patents and trademarks, under the term intellectual property. It has been internationally standardized, and may last between fifty to a hundred years from the death of author or for a shorter period in case of anonymous or corporate authorship. Copyright lawyers help to enforce it as a civil issue and also apply some jurisdictions to the criminal sanctions but most of them are applied to most recognized or completed work without performing any formal registration.

Copyright lawyers help to enforce the Copyrights laws but their role is different in different in different countries. These laws are enforced by the rights’ holder in a civil law court. However, some criminal infringement statutes are also available in some jurisdictions. Central registries are also available in some countries and provide aid in proving ownership claims. The registration is not enough to prove ownership nor can it help prove that copyright was infringed without the owner’s permission. Therefore, the criminal sanctions are the only solution left to aim at serious counterfeiting issues.