History of copyright law
The history of copyright describes the history of the right of the author to his works.
Antiquity
The ancient legal systems knew no copyright in the modern sense. However, was very well known, a relationship between author and work, it is to be understood as a real pride in their own performance, or as passing a divine gift. In modern legal history research is also on functional equivalents in the field of moral rights, ie publication of the law, right to be named and referenced Entstellungsverbots, which, however, did not reach the clout of enforceable legal norm.
This is illustrated by the emergence of the word plagiarism: It goes back to one of the oldest known copyright infringement from the Rome of the first century after Christ. Marcus Valerius Martialis The Roman poet coined the term " plagiarism". He compared his epigrams with freed slaves and designated a certain Fidentinus, the poems of Martialis had erroneously issued as separate, as kidnappers (Latin for " Plagiarius ").
The question of why the Roman law so technically sophisticated granted no protection comparable to today's copyright is answered in different ways: on the one hand, reference is made to the " proper representational thinking " that was not capable of abstraction only " intellectual " property. Any other view points to the Roman social structure. The great mass of workers was recruited from slaves; in the legal system itself suggested this reflected in the way that the liberal arts could only offer their services in unpaid forms of contract; only out of gratitude for the friendship performance was an honorarium, the honorarium payable to the contractor. This compared with that it would be the Roman citizens appeared as dishonorable to provide creative services under property rights protection. The reason for the lack of copyright protection of ancient technological lavishness of reproduction and therefore little political interest is further called on their monopolization.
Middle Ages
In the Middle Ages a right to intellectual works was unknown. Rules of law, there were only for the things in which the spirit exhibited works, in particular for the ownership of them. How could a book, for example, not stolen, but well written. The processing of a substance by many different artists and writers was the norm, as well as the acquisition or change of songs and pieces of music by other musicians. If an author did not want to change his text, he made do with a book curse - so wished Eike von Repgow, the author of the Sachsenspiegel, each leprosy on the neck, the falsified his work.
Here, touching the legal history with an intellectual-historical observation: the Zitierpraxis was much less severe than they are today in those times. The rank of an artist bemaß more about his craft skills as the originality of his inventions.
Late Middle Ages
" Nu would suffer the damage yet, if they do not prepare my books so wrong and shameful. Nu but they print sameness and therefore, hasten that when they come back to me, I do not know my own books. "
To counteract the emphasis, therefore, Drucker asked for special rights by the authorities who banned the reprinting of a work, at least for a certain time. The term for these special rights is privilege in the church imprimatur - the latter also in the secular realm came in the sense of pressure release / permission to print part of the printing customers in use and remains to this day. The interests of the printer met with those of the authorities who wanted to have an influence on the writings published under their rule. This was particularly in France, with its early absolutist structure, for example, less in Germany. Here ignored some sovereigns even aware of violations of publishers against imperial privileges, to support them economically and coveted literature to get cheaper in the country. The ideas of the Enlightenment spread to a large extent by pirated copies.
Renaissance
With the beginning of the Renaissance, the individuality moved more to the forefront and you also granted author privileges with which the Creator has been rewarded for his work.
In Germany such a privilege, for example, Albrecht Dürer was granted. Dürer are already in an afterword its Woodcut Passion in 1511, to have received an imperial privilege, which will obviously not get. The interesting thing about that epilogue is that Dürer already of " ingenium ," meaning " creation" writes what is still unusual and a problem associated with the Renaissance new self for that time authors and artists. The first preserved privilege Dürer dates from the year 1525. Too, his widow receives after his death in 1527 still a privilege, which at that time was unusual and speaks for Dürer's extraordinary position as an artist.
However, privilege protected the creator as a person ( moral rights ) and brought the originators no revenue. Linked was still at work as one thing. Middle of the 16th century were introduced territorial privileges - general prohibitions emphasis in a particular area for a limited period.
When the publishers to over went the authors to pay fees, the conviction they ( the publishers ) would thus representing an exclusive intellectual property right entitled ( doctrine of the publisher property ), even if they had no privilege for a work. The emphasis was therefore prohibited if the publisher had acquired the rights.
18th and 19th centuries
The first time was theorized ( and the phenomenon of the intangible property ) in the 18th century over quasi-ownership rights to intellectual achievements. An English Act of 1710, known as the Statute of Anne, recognized as the first of an exclusive right of reproduction of the authors who then ceded it to the publisher. After the agreed period, all rights reverting back to the author. The work had to be entered in the register and Booksellers Guild provided with a copyright symbol, so that it was protected. The United States introduced the method in 1795 ( this registration was in England, however, in 1956 and abolished in the United States 1978). Mostly the idea of intellectual property was justified by the doctrine of natural law. France also resulted in a two laws of 1791 and 1793 a littéraire et artistique Propriété. In Prussia there was in 1837 a corresponding protection. The Federal Assembly ( German Confederation) in 1837 also approved a ten-year protection period since publication of the work - in 1845, 30 years after the author's death (post mortem auctoris ) extended. 1870 a general copyright protection was introduced in the North German Confederation, which the German Empire in 1871 took over and later continued to expand. 1886 was closed for copyright protection with the Berne Convention, the first international, multilateral agreements. It was agreed a minimum term of protection of all plants (except photographic and cinematographic works ) of the countries of the Union of 50 years.
20th century
During the period of National Socialism, the author was merely as a " trustee of the work " for the national community. Existing laws such as the Art Copyright Act have not been overridden.
On September 6, 1952, the Universal Copyright Convention was adopted in Geneva. There should be a global system of protection of copyright and facilitate the dissemination of works of authorship. The signatory States undertook to adapt their own laws principles accordingly.
In Germany, the still valid German Law on Copyright and Related Rights (Copyright Act - the Copyright Act) was proclaimed on 9 September 1965. It triggered in particular the Law on Copyright in Works of Literature and Music ( LUG) of 19 June 1901, largely the law relating to copyright in works of fine arts and photography ( Art copyright law - RHC, KunstUrhG ) from January 9th, 1907 from. Among other things, it provided for an extension of copyright from 50 to 70 years after the author's death. Thus Germany was internationally a pioneer in terms of the extension of copyright terms. At the same time however, the private copy was legalized again, which was repealed in the 50s by court decisions contrary to the former wording of the law.
21st Century
Changes
Since the 1990s, the copyright has been treated in several international treaties, in which the protection of IPR has been adapted to the new technical possibilities of the Internet and significantly strengthened in part. Established in 1994 under the World Trade Organization ( WTO) adopted the Agreement on Trade- Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) established global minimum standards for copyright, that exemptions must be reduced to the exclusive rights of the copyright to a few special cases ( three-step test, Article 9, paragraph 2 of the Berne Convention ). At the same time it restricts the rental of copyrighted works and prescribes a minimum term of protection of 50 years over the death of the author ( postmortem auctoris ).
In 1996, under the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO ) WIPO Copyright Treaty (WTC ) and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT ) was signed. They shall in particular issues of copyright in the information society. Specifically, it focused on the following topics:
By TRIPs and the other agreements, the economic interests of copyright holders and brokers have been strengthened on one side. The rights of consumers and the general public have been limited, however.
As a result of these contracts individual states have only small margins in the design of copyright. Unusual arrangements would, for example, dealt with in the WTO as a distortion of free trade, which may be sanctioned by an arbitration committee. In addition, the United States also exert bilateral pressure on individual States, the copyright of their opinion not intense enough protected (see, for example, the situations The Pirate Bay and Allofmp3 ).
This copyright treaties were implemented in 1998 in the United States with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA ) and 2001 in the EU with the EC Copyright Directive into national or supranational law. They took over most of the set up in the TRIPS and the WCT or WPPT tightening. In addition, they also regulate the responsibility of internet service provider ( ISP). These are responsible for the copyright infringements of their customers when they leave these at the request of the rights owner immediately. You are also required to disclose the identity of the infringer.
The entertainment industry has operated an intensive lobbying in favor of these regulations.
The EC Copyright Directive is transposed by Member States into national law. In Germany in the course of this applies since September 13, 2003 an amended copyright law, which provides, among others, the circumvention of an effective copy protection for commercial as well as private purposes is punishable. The § § 95a ff of the Copyright Act see a " technical protection measures". According to § 95a, Section 1 of the Copyright Act may technological protection measures (eg copy ) without the consent of the copyright holder not be evaded - even when making a - permissible per se - private copy. No avoidance in this sense is the production of an analog copy of a digital content protected template.
In Austria, the implementation of the EC Copyright Directive entered into force on 1 July 2003.
Demands for openness
In recent years, gets the current copyright law, contrary to all legislative trends, more and more public criticism and some law and economics scholars.
A primary criticism that copyright becoming a " recycler rights law " without consideration of the public and the changing Internet and information society degenerating. The copyright is a relic of the last century, the criminalizing an entire generation during the period of interactive Internet applications and broadband connectivity and in no way going to see more of his original intention justice in its current form. Instead of creative works to inspire and promote the current copyright law restricts the development of a culture and progress tremendously.
Criticism is also of makers and makers of traditional cultures where, have conceptions of work and individual author, as they are copyright based on any correspondence. Traditional cultural expressions (traditional cultural expressions ) are subject to local companies in their own conventional schemes are copyright of view, however, the public domain and may be used without restriction against the will of many of its carrier. On the Organization of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO ), there was in the 1960s repeatedly initiatives for the creation of protective regulations for traditional cultural expressions. Since 2000, meets at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO ) on this issue again an intergovernmental committee.
The criticism following claims range from mild solutions such as a reduction in the minimum term of protection on an extension and re-establishment of the ( private ) bounds of copyright law to the introduction of a culture flat rate, which denies the exclusive ownership rights to intangible property. So, for example, calls the Pirate Party to respond in Germany a limitation of copyright to the new circumstances. Other parties like the Alliance 90/The Greens call for a culture flat rate to reward the cultural sector. The conservative camp from CDU and FDP, however, still holds strictly to the idea of a strong possible copyright resistant.
Sven Regener rock musicians criticized very sharply in an interview with the Bayerischer Rundfunk, the Pirate Party: " A society that so treats its artists, is worth nothing. ". In his view, hypocritical double standards of the pirates he is at a known him example out: " The local boss of the Pirate Party, which has a company that makes apps for iPhone - this is a closed system, which is one hundred percent Copyright, with lawyers, with all the trimmings. "