Copyright would seem to be an appropriate subject for study by the discipline of social epistemology envisaged by Shera. Social epistemology was to be concerned with the intel lectual processes of society as a whole, rather than primarily of the individual. This paper traces the development of significant terms in United Kingdom copyright: of writing, of a literary work representing intellectual skill or labour in which intellect ual property can inhere, and of a document for legal deposit. The analysis is undertaken with a tnple intention: first, to support the thesis that wnting and the faculty for intellectual labour are unifying principles for documents and computers; secondly, to place the Copyright. Designs and Patents Act 1988 in its historical context; and, thirdly, to develop the divergence between a work in which copyright can subsist and a document for deposit into a measure for the diminishing proportion of published information captured by legal deposit.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
J.H. Shera, Libraries and the Organisation of Knowledge, Edited with an introduction by D.J. Foskett ( Crosby & Lockwood, London, 1965 ).
2.
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act1988, c. 48.
3.
D.F. McKenzie , Bibliography and the Sociology of Texts (The Panizzi Lectures1985) ( British Library, London, 1986).
4.
J. Warner , Semiotics, information science, documents and computers, Journal of Documentation46 (1) (1990) 16-32.
5.
F. de Saussure , Course in General Linguistics, edited by C. Bally and A. Sechehaye with the collaboration of A. Riedlinger, translated and annotated by R Harris (Duckworth, London , 1983).
6.
Copyright and Designs Law: Report of the Committee to Consider the Laws on Copyright and Designs, Chairman the Honourable Mr Justice Whitford (Cmnd 6732) (HMSO, London, 1977).
7.
An Act to amend the Law of Copyright 1842 5 and 6 Victoria ch.xlv.3.
8.
Pitman v. Hines, Times, 6 November 1884, 3.
9.
Ager v. Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, The Law Reports: Chancery Division, xxvi (1884) 637-643.
10.
Ager v. Collingridge, Times, 4 February 1886, 3.
11.
E.P. Skone James , J.F. Murray, J.E. Rayner James, A. Latman and S. Silman, Copinger and Skone James on Copyright Including International Copyright with the Statutes and Orders Relating thereto and Forms and Precedents and Related Forms of Protection (Sweet & Maxwell, London, 1980).
12.
E.P. Skone James , Copinger and Skone James on the Law of Copyright Including International and Colonial Copyright, with the Statutes Relating thereto and Forms and Precedents (Sweet & Maxwell, London, 1948).
13.
F.E. Skone James and E.P. Skone James, Copinger and Skone James on Copyright Including International Copyright with the Statutes and Orders Relating thereto and Forms and Precedents and Related Forms of Protection ( Sweet & Maxwell, London, 1965 ).
14.
B. Niblett, Legal Protection of Computer Programs (Oyez Publishing , London, 1980).
15.
H. Brett and L. Perry, Introduction: technical background —legal background. In: L. Perry and H. Brett (Editors), The Legal Protection of Computer Software ( ESC Publishing, Oxford, 1981) 1-29.
16.
G. Dworkin, The nature of computer programs. In: J. Lahore , G. Dworkin and Y.M. Smyth (Editors), Information Technology: the Challenge to Copyright (Sweet & Maxwell, London, 1984) 89-114.
17.
J. Phillips, Introduction to Intellectual Property Law (Butterworths , London. 1986).
18.
Copyright Act 1911 1 and 2 George V. ch. 46.
19.
Convention of Berlin. In: E.P. Skone James , Copinger and Skone James on the Law of Copyright Including International and Colonial Copyright, with the Statutes Relating thereto and Forms and Precedents (Sweet & Maxwell, London, 1948) 437-458.
20.
D.P. Anderson & Co. Limited v. The Lieber Code Company, 2KB (1917) 469-472.
21.
Copyright Act 1956 4 and 5 Eliz. 2. ch. 74.
22.
Brussels Copyright Convention 1948. In: F.E. Skone James and E.P. Skone James, Copinger and Skone James on Copyright Including International Copyright with the Statutes and Orders relating thereto and Forms and Precedents and Related Forms of Protection ( Sweet & Maxwell, London, 1965 ) 673-703.
23.
Copyright (Computer Software) Amendment Act 1985. Elizabeth II c. 41.
24.
Current Law Statutes Annotated: 1988, Vol. 4 (Sweet & Maxwell and Stevens & Sons. London: W. Green & Son: Edinburgh, 1989).
25.
Walter v. Lane, TLR16 (1900) pp. 551-556.
26.
M.F. Flint, A User's Gurde to Copyright, 2nd ed. ( Butterworths, London, 1985).
27.
Board of Trade, Report of the Copyright Committee (Cmd 8662) (HMSO, London, 1952).
28.
Reform of the Law Relating to Copyright, Designs and Perfomers' Protection: a Consultative Document (Cmnd 8302) (HMSO, London, 1981).
29.
British Library Act1972 Eliz. II. c. 54.
30.
P. Sturges , Policies and criteria for the archiving of electronic publishing, Journal of Librarianship19 (3) (1987) 152-172.
31.
J. Warner , Bntish Library microform publications and their bibliographic control, Journal of Librarianship20 (3) (1988) 159-181.
32.
Copyright (British Museum) Act, 1915. 5&6 George V c. 38.
33.
The British Museum (Delivery of Books) Regulation Dated August 9, 1915.
34.
P. Fryer, Private Case — Public Scandal (Secker & War-burg , London. 1966).
35.
A. Wilson , The national published record: acquisition and preservation, Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester65 (1) (1982-1983) 246-264.
36.
P.J. Kearney , The Private Case: an Annotated Bibliography of the Private Case Erotica Collection in the British (Museum) Library (Jay Landesman, London, 1981).
37.
L. Fleck, Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact, edited by T.J. Trenn and R.K. Merton , translated by F. Bradley and T.J. Trenn (Chicago University Press, Chicago, 1979).
38.
V.N. Volostnov , Marxism and the Philosophy of Language (Seminar Press, New York, 1973).
