The first modern copyright law was passed in British parliament in 1710. (Hoffmann 5) Known as The Statute of Anne, and officially titled as “An act for the encouragement of learning, by vesting the copies of printed books in the authors or purchasers of such copies, during the times therein mentioned.”(Ibid) As stated in Gretchen Hoffmanns book, the law itself outlined three major components to how modern society views copyright: the purpose of copyright, the object of its protection, and the duration of the objects protection. (Ibid 6) Copyright is defined by Paul Goldstien as “the right to make copies of a given work” and “to stop others from making copies without one’s permission.”(Goldstien 3) It is important to note however that The Statute of Anne however only applied to written works. (Hoffmann 5) This is because readers of written works were the first to become affected by the laws of copyright. While the laws premise protected authors and their materials, readers became immediately aware of costs associated with the purchase of regulated books. As a result there was an increasing difficulty affording and accessing books. This was due to situations where “publishers sued producers of unauthorized, or pirated, editions” of works since “they controlled the copyright.”(Goldstien 4) On the positive side for the readers however, the regulation of written works ensures accurate representations of texts by the publishers that readers purchase.

Over time however the advancement of copyright laws have come to include but are not limited to written works, music, images and even materials from the internet. As it relates to the internet, copyright laws are currently making the spotlight in society and are under a lot of scrutiny by internet users. Bills such as SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act), PIPA (Protect IP Act), and ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade agreement) have offered overbearing copyright protections that “[make] it impossible for millions of teenagers to engage in unauthorized uses [of downloading] by enacting legal protection for access controls.”(Litman 167) While these bills offer to protect the current business models for corporations, the methods have not “worked particularly well” (Ibid) at stopping readers download and have access to many different copyrighted materials. The model for copyright in the digital age however has a positive side for readers as well because it regulates payment to authors whom create the materials for readers (Ibid). An argument that has arose from this point is that writing is an art form, and authors as artists, just as musicians with music, do not need payment, but will write just to appease their own artistic desires. (Ibid) An individual case is that of The Pirate Bay, which has been in recent months shut down due to its ability to give pirated copies of copyrighted material to readers. While the majority of its “illegal” files are associated with movies and music, The Pirate Bay allows bootleg access to e-books and other such materials for readers. New copyright laws and commercial interests have made aware the injustices that downloading creates for the economy and as a result shut down the reader’s ability to access the website and the files it offers. While the internet communities and readers resist copyright laws, these same laws protect the writers and their materials and provide motivation for new material to be written for readers.

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