300 years after the concept was born, copyright has hit the headlines. Suddenly, everyone has discovered it. The simple mechanism that gave authors ownership of their works has exploded on the internet.
It all began at the dawn of the Enlightenment with the Statute of Queen Anne. Our forefathers granted “the Author of any Book or Books...the sole Right and Liberty of Printing such Book and Books.”
Over the next three centuries, it was an idea that was adopted throughout the world. But it remained largely hidden from public view, buried in artists’ contracts, distributor agreements and High Court
