▪ I. copyright, n. (a.)
(ˈkɒpɪraɪt)
[f. copy n. + right n.]
1. The exclusive right given by law for a certain term of years to an author, composer, designer, etc. (or his assignee), to print, publish, and sell copies of his original work.
| 1735 Parl. Coll., House of Lords 6 May (H.L.R.O.), The Editions and Impressions of such Books made and published as well in Great Britain as in Ireland and Scotland by persons who have paid no considerations for the Copy-right of such Books. 1767 Blackstone Comm. II. 407 Much may also be collected from the several legislative recognitions of copyrights. 1791 Boswell Johnson an. 1748, A considerable deduction from the price stipulated to be paid for the copyright. 1832 Babbage Econ. Manuf. xxxiii. (ed. 3) 361 The law of Copyright, is, in some measure allied to that of patents. 1875 Jevons Money (1878) 166 We have international copyright. |
2. attrib. or adj. Protected by copyright; not allowed by law to be printed or copied except by permission of the author, designer, etc.
| 1870 U.S. Stat. at Large XVI. 213 [To] deposit in the mail two copies of such copyright book or other article. 1881 Athenæum 19 Feb. 257/1 There is to be no export of English editions of copyright books to the United States. |
3. Comb. copyright act,
copyright law;
copyright library, any of the libraries entitled to receive one free copy of each book, pamphlet, map, music sheet or score, and periodical published in the United Kingdom (see
quot. 1967).
| 1831 Deb. Congress 6 Jan. 424 His colleague..had described the *copyright act as simply a remedy for the abuse of that right. |
| 1791 J. Lackington Mem. (1792) 347 So blind were *copyright-holders to their own interest. |
| 1835 Knickerbocker VI. 289 The passage of an international *copy-right law betwixt America and Great Britain. 1962 Times 5 July 15/6 A tape recorder offers the additional facility of actual recording, either personally or—*copyright laws notwithstanding—from the radio. |
| 1898 E. W. B. Nicolson in Minutes of Evidence Sel. Comm. Copyright 214/1 in Parl. Papers IX. 231 We are the oldest of the copyright libraries, and..our privilege antedates all the Copyright Acts. It was originally a bargain..made in Sir Thomas Bodley's own time. 1932 Library Assoc. Rec. Mar. 74 When complete sets of works were claimed by any of the copyright libraries..some booksellers..refused to deliver them. 1967 Cox & Grose Organiz. Bibliogr. Rec. by Computer 188 Copyright library. By the 1911 Copyright Act six libraries..are entitled to a copy of every book published in the United Kingdom. They are: The British Museum [= the British Library], Cambridge University Library, The Bodleian, The National Libraries of Wales and Scotland, and Trinity College, Dublin. |
▪ II. ˈcopyright, v. [f. prec. n.] trans. To secure copyright for; to protect by copyright.
| 1878 E. Jenkins Haverholme 191 It had indeed been suggested that the oath should be registered and copyrighted for their exclusive use. 1887 Athenæum 7 May. 609/3 The number of books copyrighted in the United States last year was 11,124. |
Hence
ˈcopyrighted ppl. a.,
ˈcopyrighting vbl. n.;
ˈcopyrighter, one who ‘copyrights’.
| 1806 Webster Compend. Dict., Copyrighted, as the sole right being secured. 1860 C. Reade 8th Commandm. 217 Copyrighted plays. 1888 Scot. Leader 14 June 4 Copyrighted English literature for the American market. 1891 M. D. Conway in Athenæum 21 Mar. 377/1 It is difficult to see any objection to the use of the copyrighter's trade-mark. |