way to protect authors.
</para>
<indexterm startref='idxbritishparliament2' class='endofrange'/>
-<indexterm id='idxdonaldsonalexander' class='startofrange'><primary>Donaldson, Alexander</primary></indexterm>
-<indexterm><primary>Patterson, Raymond</primary></indexterm>
-<indexterm id='idxscottishpublishers' class='startofrange'><primary>Scottish publishers</primary></indexterm>
<para>
This was a clever argument, and one that had the support of some of
the leading jurists of the day. It also displayed extraordinary
The bookseller didn't care squat for the rights of the author. His
concern was the monopoly profit that the author's work gave.
</para>
+<indexterm id='idxdonaldsonalexander' class='startofrange'><primary>Donaldson, Alexander</primary></indexterm>
+<indexterm><primary>Patterson, Raymond</primary></indexterm>
+<indexterm id='idxscottishpublishers' class='startofrange'><primary>Scottish publishers</primary></indexterm>
<para>
The booksellers' argument was not accepted without a fight.
The hero of this fight was a Scottish bookseller named Alexander
(London: Routledge, 1992), 62–69.
</para></footnote>
</para>
+<indexterm id='idxstatuteofanne3' class='startofrange'><primary>Statute of Anne (1710)</primary></indexterm>
+<indexterm id='idxconger' class='startofrange'><primary>Conger</primary></indexterm>
<indexterm><primary>Boswell, James</primary></indexterm>
<indexterm><primary>Erskine, Andrew</primary></indexterm>
<para>
Ibid., 93.
</para></footnote>
</para>
+<indexterm id='idxcommonlaw' class='startofrange'><primary>common law</primary></indexterm>
<para>
When the London booksellers tried to shut down Donaldson's shop in
Scotland, he responded by moving his shop to London, where he sold
rested his right to compete upon the ground that, under the Statute of
Anne, the works he was selling had passed out of protection.
</para>
+<indexterm startref='idxconger' class='endofrange'/>
+<indexterm id='idxmillarvtaylor' class='startofrange'><primary>Millar v. Taylor</primary></indexterm>
<para>
The London booksellers quickly brought suit to block <quote>piracy</quote> like
Donaldson's. A number of actions were successful against the <quote>pirates,</quote>
</para>
<indexterm startref='idxdonaldsonalexander' class='endofrange'/>
<indexterm startref='idxscottishpublishers' class='endofrange'/>
+<indexterm id='idxthomsonjames' class='startofrange'><primary>Thomson, James</primary></indexterm>
+<indexterm id='idxcopyrightinperpetuity2' class='startofrange'><primary>copyright</primary><secondary>in perpetuity</secondary></indexterm>
<indexterm><primary>Seasons, The (Thomson)</primary></indexterm>
<indexterm><primary>Taylor, Robert</primary></indexterm>
<para>
rule thus effectively gave the booksellers a perpetual right to
control the publication of any book assigned to them.
</para>
+<indexterm startref='idxcommonlaw' class='endofrange'/>
+<indexterm startref='idxthomsonjames' class='endofrange'/>
+<indexterm startref='idxcopyrightinperpetuity2' class='endofrange'/>
+<indexterm id='idxbritishparliament3' class='startofrange'><primary>British Parliament</primary></indexterm>
<para>
Considered as a matter of abstract justice—reasoning as if
justice were just a matter of logical deduction from first
Crown coveted to the free culture that we inherited.
</para>
<indexterm startref='idxmansfieldwilliammurraylord2' class='endofrange'/>
+<indexterm id='idxdonaldsonalexander2' class='startofrange'><primary>Donaldson, Alexander</primary></indexterm>
+<indexterm id='idxscottishpublishers2' class='startofrange'><primary>Scottish publishers</primary></indexterm>
<para>
The fight to defend the limits of the Statute of Anne was not to end
there, however, and it is here that Donaldson enters the mix.
</para>
+<indexterm><primary>Thomson, James</primary></indexterm>
<indexterm><primary>Beckett, Thomas</primary></indexterm>
+<indexterm id='idxhouseoflords' class='startofrange'><primary>House of Lords</primary></indexterm>
+<indexterm id='idxsupremecourtushouseoflordsvs' class='startofrange'><primary>Supreme Court, U.S.</primary><secondary>House of Lords vs.</secondary></indexterm>
<para>
Millar died soon after his victory, so his case was not appealed. His
estate sold Thomson's poems to a syndicate of printers that included
Court. In February of 1774, that body had the chance to interpret the
meaning of Parliament's limits from sixty years before.
</para>
+<indexterm startref='idxmillarvtaylor' class='endofrange'/>
+<indexterm startref='idxbritishparliament3' class='endofrange'/>
<indexterm id='idxdonaldsonvbeckett' class='startofrange'><primary>Donaldson v. Beckett</primary></indexterm>
<indexterm id='idxcommonlaw2' class='startofrange'><primary>common law</primary></indexterm>
<para>
specified in the Statute of Anne expired, works that had been
protected by the statute were no longer protected.
</para>
+<indexterm startref='idxstatuteofanne3' class='endofrange'/>
<para>
The House of Lords was an odd institution. Legal questions were
presented to the House and voted upon first by the <quote>law lords,</quote>
Justices in our Supreme Court. Then, after the law lords voted, the
House of Lords generally voted.
</para>
+<indexterm startref='idxsupremecourtushouseoflordsvs' class='endofrange'/>
<indexterm id='idxcopyrightinperpetuity3' class='startofrange'><primary>copyright</primary><secondary>in perpetuity</secondary></indexterm>
<indexterm id='idxpublicdomainenglishlegalestablishmentof' class='startofrange'><primary>public domain</primary><secondary>English legal establishment of</secondary></indexterm>
<para>
history—including those of Shakespeare, Bacon, Milton, Johnson,
and Bunyan—were free of legal restraint.
</para>
+<indexterm startref='idxdonaldsonalexander2' class='endofrange'/>
+<indexterm startref='idxscottishpublishers2' class='endofrange'/>
<indexterm startref='idxcommonlaw2' class='endofrange'/>
<indexterm startref='idxcopyrightinperpetuity3' class='endofrange'/>
<indexterm startref='idxpublicdomainenglishlegalestablishmentof' class='endofrange'/>
Rose, 97.
</para></footnote>
</para>
+<indexterm startref='idxhouseoflords' class='endofrange'/>
<para>
In London, however, at least among publishers, the reaction was
equally strong in the opposite direction. The <citetitle>Morning Chronicle</citetitle>