A Treatise on the Laws of Literary Property, Comprising the Statutes and Cases Relating to Books, Manuscripts, Lectures; Dramatic and...

Maugham, Robert.A Treatise on the Laws of Literary Property, Comprising the Statutes and Cases Relating to Books, Manuscripts, Lectures; Dramatic and Musical Compositions; Engravings, Sculpture, Maps &c. Including the Piracy and Transfer of Copyright; With a Historical View, And Disquisitions on the Principles and Effects of the Laws. London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, 1828. XXI, xxii, 261 pp. Reprinted 2008 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. With a new introduction by Ronan Deazley, Reader, Birmingham Law School, University of Birmingham. Hardcover. New. * Reprint of the only edition of the first substantive treatise concerning the law of copyright in Britain. "Joshua Montefiore was responsible for publishing the first treatise on copyright in 1802, a slim volume only 59 pages in length. Others, such as Richard Godson and Isaac Espinasse, had written about copyright in conjunction with related areas of the law. It was Maugham, however, who would provide the first comprehensive text specifically dedicated to the subject. Moreover, his work would be routinely relied upon as a point of reference in subsequent copyright treatises, both in Britain and in the U.S., throughout the remainder of the nineteenth century.": From the Introduction.