Talfourd endured a great deal of public criticism during the copyright debates, some directed at his plans, but also a considerable amount directed at him personally. Parliamentary opponents and pamphleteers did not hesitate to mock his florid speeches and his partisan enthusiasm. Talfourd was left dispirited and frustrated by the many reverses his bill suffered, and Mahon's safe political hands were certainly welcome in the closing stages. It is easy to carry away from the contemporary squabbling an impression of Talfourd the `bungling juggler’, the warm-hearted but wrong-headed literary amateur. Yet this is to do Talfourd a great injustice.

Analysis of the various drafts of the bill makes it plain that Talfourd's knowledge of copyright law was practical and extensive. Many of the elements of modern copyright law were already in place by 1837, although not necessarily in statutory form. The various pieces of copyright legislation had been enacted piecemeal, in response to demands for protection from particular groups, and the results varied in coherence and quality. The absence of international copyright was an admitted and glaring problem. Talfourd's plans for revision and improvement were coherent and careful, though avowedly ambitious. These bills are not the work of an unbalanced fanatic with large ideals and no substance. They contained carefully drafted clauses intended to address various practical problems which had emerged from the existing web of statutory and case law protection.