About the project
Printing privileges provided exclusive rights for the production of books and images: they can be considered one of the precursors of what we now call ‘copyrights’.
Printing privileges were introduced around 1470, shortly after the invention of the printing press. They were abolished around 1789, when new notions of ownership emerged alongside new ideas about political representation.
The researchers in the project "Before Copyright" (BE4COPY) study the changing nature of the printing privilege over the course of these turbulent 300 years.
The intimate relationship between legal frameworks and the politics of knowledge is the primary focus of the project.
Sub-projects
BE4COPY consists of several sub-projects with a particular focus on:
- The Holy Roman Empire
- Scandinavia
- The Low Countries
- Italian States
- The Spanish Empire
- England and France
Each sub-project will be informed and contribute to the project’s digital platform, which analyses the dynamic processes of knowledge transfer using multi-layered networks.
