Common law copyright is the legal doctrine which contends that copyright is a natural right and creators are therefore entitled to the same protections anyone would be in regard to tangible and real property. The proponents of this doctrine contended that creators had a perpetual right to control the publication of their work (also see perpetual copyright).
The doctrine was repudiated by the courts in the United Kingdom (Donaldson v. Beckett, 1774) and the United States (Wheaton v. Peters, 1834). In both countries, the courts found that copyright is a limited right created by the legislature under statutes and subject to the conditions and terms the legislature sees fit to impose.
Read more about Common Law Copyright: Battle of The Booksellers, Wheaton V. Peters, Other Uses
Famous quotes containing the words common and/or law:
“It is to be presumed, that a man of common sense, who does not desire to please, desires nothing at all; since he must know that he cannot obtain anything without it.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)
“These, having not the law, are a law unto themselves.”
—Bible: New Testament St. Paul, in Romans, 2:14.