It is often argued that copyright is fundamental to creativity on the part of artists and other creators and to the creative industries. In fact, as we see in chapter 14, dependence on copyright is one of the ways in which the creative industries are categorised. Why, therefore, is copyright so important, and what are its effects on producers and consumers of cultural products? This chapter analyses these questions and considers the role of copyright law in markets in the cultural sector, concentrating on its economic rather than its legal aspects.

A brief history of copyright

Copyright is the creation of property rights for authors through statutory law; it gives them the exclusive right to control the use of their works and protects them from unauthorised copying; this means that anyone wanting to use the work must (with some exceptions) apply to the author or person (or organisation) who controls the right. Having these rights enables the author or creator in principle to obtain payment from anyone who wishes to copy his or her work. The first copyright law was enacted in England and had a distinctly commercial origin. The 1710 Statute of Anne came about as a result of petitioning to parliament by booksellers and publishers who had lost the protection of the rights they had previously had as members of the Stationers' Company, the guild that controlled printing in earlier times.