Early
English
protectionissued to John Palsgrave, who, having prepared a French grammar at his own expense, received a privilege for seven years. In 1533 appeared the first complaint of piracy, that of Wynken de Worde, who obtained the King's privilege for his second edition of Witinton's Grammar, because Peter Trevers had reprinted it from the edition of 1523. Up to the middle of the sixteenth century copyrights were in form printers' licenses, and even in the case cited Palsgrave seems to have been recognized rather because he published his own book than because he wrote it.
The
Stationers'
CompanyThe Stationers' Company, created by Henry VIII and chartered under Queen Mary in 1556, though the development of an earlier guild dating from 1403, was in part a device to prevent seditious printing, by prohibiting any printing in England except by those registered in its membership. In 1558, under a second charter, its by-laws provided that every one who printed a book should register it and pay a fee, and those who failed to do this, or who printed another member's book, were to be fined. In 1562 licenses were declared void "if any other has a right," and in 1573 sales of "copy" are entered. The practice had grown up of granting patents or monopolies to persons for a wh~6Te' class of books; the Stationers' Company itself held that for almanacs up to a very late period, and the Crown has retained that on the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer to the present day. These monopolies were defied, and the Star Chamber decree of 1566, disabling offending printers from exercising their trade and prescribing imprisonment, did not avail. In 1640 the Star Chamber and all the regulations of the press were abolished by the Long Parliament, but the abuse of unlicensed printing led to a new licensing act in 1643, which prohibited printing or importing
