Anno Octavo

Annæ Reginæ.

 

An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by Vest-

ing the Copies of Printed Books in the Authors or

Purchasers of such Copies, during the Times therein

mentioned.

 

Whereas Printers, Booksellers, and other

Persons, have of late frequently taken

the Liberty of Printing, Reprinting,

and Publishing, or causing to be Print-

ed, Reprinted, and Published Books,

and other Writings, without the Con-

sent of the Authors or Proprietors of

such Books and Writings, to their

very great Detriment, and too often

to the Ruin of them and their Fami-

lies: For Preventing therefore such

Practices for the future, and for the

Encouragement of Learned Men to Compose and Write use-

ful Books; May it please Your Majesty, that it may be En-

acted, and be it Enacted by the Queens 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 from and after the

Tenth Day of April, One thousand seven hundred and ten, the

Author of any Book or Books already Printed, who hath not

Transferred to any other the Copy or Copies of such Book or

Books, Share or Shares thereof, or the Bookseller or Book-

sellers, Printer or Printers, or other Person or Persons, who

hath or have Purchased or Acquired the Copy or Copies of any

Book or Books, in order to Print or Reprint the same, shall

have the sole Right and Liberty of Printing such Book and

Books for the Term of One and twenty Years, to Commence

from the said Tenth Day of April, and no longer; and that

the Author of any Book or Books already Composed and not

Printed and Published, or that shall hereafter be Composed, and

his Assignee, or Assigns, shall have the sole Liberty of Printing

and Reprinting such Book and Books for the Term of four-

teen

teen Years, to Commence from the Day of the First Publish-

ing the same, and no longer; And that if any other Bookseller,

Printer, or other Person whatsoever, from and after the Tenth

Day of April, One thousand seven hundred and ten, within the

times Granted and Limited by this Act, as aforesaid, shall Print,

Reprint, or Import, or cause to be Printed, Reprinted, or Imported

any such Book or Books, without the Consent of the Proprietor or

Proprietors thereof first had and obtained in Writing, Signed

in the Presence of Two or more Credible Witnesses; or knowing

the same to be so Printed or Reprinted, without the Consent of

the Proprietors, shall Sell, Publish, or Expose to Sale, or cause

to be Sold, Published, or Exposed to Sale, any such Book or

Books, without such Consent first had and obtained, as afore-

said, Then such Offender or Offenders shall Forfeit such Book or

Books, and all and every Sheet or Sheets, being part of such

Book or Books, to the Proprietor or Proprietors of the Copy

thereof, who shall forthwith Damask and make Waste-Paper of

them: And further, That every such Offender or Offenders, shall

Forfeit One Peny [sic] for every sheet which shall be found in his,

her, or their Custody, either Printed or Printing, Published or

Exposed to Sale, contrary to the true intent and meaning of

this Act, the one Moiety thereof to the Queens [sic] most Excellent

Majesty, Her Heirs and Successors, and the other Moiety

thereof to any Person or Persons that shall Sue for the same,

to be Recovered in any of Her Majesties [sic] Courts of Record at

Westminster, by Action of Debt, Bill, Plaint, or Information,

in which no Wager of Law, Essoign, Privilege, or Protection,

or more than one Imparlance, shall be allowed.

 

And whereas many Persons may through Ignorance Offend

against this Act, unless some Provision be made whereby the Pro-

perty in every such Book, as is intended by this Act to be Se-

cured to the proprietor or Proprietors thereof, may be ascertain-

ed, as likewise the Consent of such Proprietor or Proprietors for the

Printing or Reprinting of such Book or Books may from time

to time be known; Be it therefore further Enacted by the Au-

thority aforesaid, That nothing in this Act contained shall be

construed to extend to subject any Bookseller, Printer, or other

Person whatsoever, to the Forfeitures or Penalties therein men-

tioned, for or by reason of the Printing or Reprinting of any Book

or Books without such Consent, as aforesaid, unless the Title

to the Copy of such Book or Books hereafter Published shall,

before such Publication be Entred [sic], in the Register-Book of the

Company of Stationers, in such manner as hath been usual,

which Register-Book shall at all times be kept at the Hall of

the said Company, and unless such Consent of the Proprietor

or Proprietors be in like manner Entred [sic], as aforesaid, for every

of which several Entries, Six Pence shall be Paid, and no

more; which said Register-Book may, at all Seasonable [sic; should be: Reasonable] and

Convenient times, be Resorted to, and Inspected by any Book-

seller, Printer, or other Person, for the Purposes before menti-

oned,

oned, without any Fee or Reward; and the Clerk of the said

Company of Stationers, shall, when and as often as thereunto

required, give a Certificate under his Hand of such Entry or En-

tries, and for every such Certificate, may take a Fee not exceed-

ing Six Pence.

 

Provided nevertheless, That if the Clerk of the said Com-

pany of Stationers, for the time being shall Refuse or Neglect to

Register, or make such Entry or Entries, or to give such Cer-

tificate, being thereunto Required by the Author or Proprietor of

such Copy or Copies, in the Presence of Two or more Credible

Witnesses, That then such Person and Persons so refusing, No-

tice being first duly given of such Refusal, by an Advertisement

in the Gazette, shall have the like Benefit, as if such Entry or

Entries, Certificate or Certificates had been duly made and gi-

ven; and that the Clerks so refusing, shall, for any such Offence,

Forfeit to the Proprietor of such Copy or Copies the Sum of

Twenty Pounds, to be Recovered in any of Her Majesties [sic]

Courts of Record at Westminster, by Action of Debt, Bill,

Plaint, or Information, in which no Wager of Law, Essoign,

Privilege or Protection, or more than one Imparlance shall

be allowed.

 

Provided nevertheless, and it is hereby further Enacted by

the Authority aforesaid, That if any Bookseller or Booksellers,

Printer or Printers, shall, after the said Five and twentieth

Day of March, One thousand seven hundred and ten, set a

Price upon, or Sell or Expose to Sale, any Book or Books

at such a Price or Rate as shall be Conceived by any Person

or Persons to be High and Unreasonable; It shall and may be

Lawful for any Person or Persons to make Complaint thereof

to the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury for the time being; the

Lord Chancellor, or Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of Great

Britain for the time being; the Lord Bishop of London for the

time being; the Lord Chief Justice of the Court of Queens [sic]

Bench, the Lord Chief Justice of the Court of Common

Pleas, the Lord Chief Baron of the Court of Exchequer, for

the time being; the Vice-Chancellors of the Two Universities

for the time being, in that part of Great Britain called England;

the Lord President of the Sessions for the time being; the Lord

Justice General for the time being; the Lord Chief Baron of

the Exchequer for the time being; the Rector of the College

of Edinburgh for the time being, in that part of Great Britain

called Scotland; who, or any one of them, shall and have hereby full

Power and Authority from time to time, to Send for, Sum-

mon, or Call before him or them such Bookseller or Book-

sellers, Printer or Printers, and to Examine and Enquire of

the reason of the Dearness and Inhauncement of the Price or Va-

lue of such Book or Books by him or them so Sold or Exposed to

Sale; and if upon such Enquiry and Examination it shall be

found, that the Price of such Book or Books is Inhaunced, or

any

any wise too High or Unreasonable, Then and in such case, the

said Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper,

Bishop of London, two Chief Justices, Chief Baron, Vice-

Chancellors of the Universities, in that part of Great Britain called

England, and the said Lord President of the Sessions, Lord Justice

General, Lord Chief Baron, and Rector of the College of

Edinburgh, in that part of Great Britain called Scotland, or any one

or more of them, so Enquiring and Examining, have hereby full

Power and Authority to Reform and Redress the same, and to

Limit and Settle the Price of every such Printed Book

and Books, from time to time, according to the best of their

Judgements, and as to them shall seem Just and Reasonable;

and in case of Alteration of the Rate or Price from what

was Set or Demanded by such Bookseller or Booksellers,

Printer or Printers, to Award and Order such Bookseller and

Booksellers, Printer and Printers, to Pay all the Costs and

Charges that the Person or Persons so Complaining shall be

put unto, by reason of such Complaint, and of the causing such

Rate or Price to be so Limited and Settled; all which shall be

done by the said Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Chancellor, or

Lord Keeper, Bishop of London, two Chief Justices, Chief

Baron, Vice Chancellors of the Two Universities, in that part

of Great Britain called England, and the said Lord President of the

Sessions, Lord Justice General, Lord Chief Baron, and Rector of

the College of Edinburgh, in that part of Great Britain called

Scotland, or any one of them, by Writing under their Hands

and Seals, and thereof Publick Notice shall be forthwith given

by the said Bookseller or Booksellers, Printer or Printers, by

an Advertisement in the Gazette; and if any Bookseller or Book-

sellers, Printer or Printers, shall, after such Settlement made

of the said Rate and Price, Sell, or expose to Sale any Book

or Books, at a higher or greater Price than what shall have been

so Limited and Settled, as aforesaid, then and in every such

case such Bookseller and Booksellers, Printer and Printers,

shall Forfeit the Sum of Five Pounds for every such Book so

by him, her, or them Sold or Exposed to Sale; One Moiety

thereof to the Queens [sic] most Excellent Majesty, Her Heirs and

Successors, and the other Moiety to any Person or Persons that

shall Sue for the same, to be Recovered, with Costs of Suit,

in any of Her Majesties [sic] Courts of Record at Westminster, by Acti-

on of Debt, Bill, Plaint or Information, in which no Wager

of Law, Essoign, Privilege or Protection, or more than one Im-

parlance, shall be allowed.

 

Provided always, and it is hereby Enacted, That Nine Copies

of each Book or Books, upon the best Paper, that from and af-

ter the said Tenth Day of April, One thousand seven hundred

and ten, shall be Printed and Published, as aforesaid, or Re-

printed and Published with Additions, shall, by the Printer and

Printers thereof, be Delivered to the Warehouse-Keeper of the

said

said Company of Stationers for the time being, at the Hall of

the said Company, before such Publication made, for the Use of

the Royal Library, the Libraries of the Universities of Oxford

and Cambridge, the Libraries of the Four Universities in Scot-

land, the Library of Sion College in London, and the Library

commonly called the Library belonging to the Faculty of Advo-

cates at Edinburgh respectively; which said Warehouse-Keeper,

is hereby required, within Ten Days after Demand by the Keepers

of the respective Libraries, or any Person or Persons by them or

any of them Authorised to Demand the said Copy, to Deli-

ver the same, for the Use of the aforesaid Libraries; and if any

Proprietor, Bookseller or Printer, or the said Warehouse-Keeper

of the said Company of Stationers, shall not observe the Directi-

on of this Act therein, That then he and they, so making De-

fault in not Delivering the said Printed Copies, as aforesaid,

shall Forfeit, besides the value of the said Printed Copies, the

sum of Five Pounds for every Copy not so Delivered, as also

the value of the said Printed Copy not so Delivered, the same to

be Recovered by the Queens [sic] Majesty, Her Heirs and Successors,

and by the Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars of any of the said

Universities, and by the President and Fellows of Sion College,

and the said Faculty of Advocates at Edinburgh, with their full

Costs respectively.

 

Provided always, and be it further Enacted, That if any Per-

son or Persons incur the Penalties contained in this Act, in that

part of Great Britain called Scotland, they shall be recoverable by

any Action before the Court of Session there.

 

Provided, That nothing in this Act contained do extend, or shall

be construed to extend, to Prohibit the Importation, Vending, or

Selling of any Books in Greek, Latin, or any other Foreign

Language Printed beyond the Seas; Any thing in this Act con-

tained to the contrary notwithstanding.

 

And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That if

any Action or Suit shall be Commenced or Brought against any

Person or Persons whatsoever, for doing or causing to be done

any thing in pursuance of this Act, the Defendants in such Action

may Plead the General Issue, and give the Special Matter in

Evidence; and if upon such Action a Verdict be given for the

Defendant, or the Plaintiff become Nonsuited, or Discontinue

his Action, then the Defendant shall have and recover his full Costs,

for which he shall have the same Remedy as a Defendant in any

case by Law hath.

 

Provided, That nothing in this Act contained shall extend,

or be construed to extend, either to Prejudice or Confirm any

Right that the said Universities, or any of them, or any Per-

son or Persons have, or claim to have, to the Printing or Re-

printing any Book or Copy already Printed, or hereafter to be

Printed.

Provided

Provided nevertheless, That all Actions, Suits, Bills, In-

dictments, or Informations for any Offence that shall be Com-

mitted against this Act, shall be Brought, Sued, and Com-

menced within Three Months next after such Offence Committed,

or else the same shall be Void and of none Effect.

 

Provided always, That after the Expiration of the said

Term of Fourteen Years, the sole Right of Printing or Dis-

posing of Copies shall return to the Authors thereof, if they

are then Living, for another Term of Fourteen Years.

 

FINIS.