The Establish And The Transition Of The Authorship Of Copyright Form The Historical Perspective

At the moment, the copyright regime has been the essential topic of economicalsociety. However, the copyright regime is now in dilemma, so this essay points out inthe introduction that the study of this topic should not limit to the object and theexternal argument of copyright, but turn to focusing the subject of copyright regime.From his perspective, the author is not a natural author, the recent copyright subject isbased on the romantic authorship, which stands for the meaning of “original” and“genius”; on the basis of above analysis, this essay contents that the reason ofcopyright dilemma and crisis can be concluded to the unsuitable concept of authorship,and try to remodeling a more fair and a more modest copyright author.This essay starts with a concise introduction, and can be divided to five chapters.In first chapter, the author use the historical method to research the concepts ofauthor in classical period, and analyse the reasons how the writer become the author.Firstly, this chapter depicts the specific concept of author in classical period. InAncient Greece period, the concept of author almost means accepting the gods of theinspiration and simulation expressing aesthetics. In Ancient Rome period, theconcept of author is just the tool to get political position. However,In the middleages,"the author" is seen as the tool to transfer the god’s will. So we can concludthat, the author is not a natural author, and maybe the name of writer is moresuitable.Secondly, this part analyses the reasons how the writer become the author. Firstof all, the birth of printing technology. Printing was pushing the book trade and therise of readers market, and the book publishing is bonded with the author, the authoras the independent groups are also gradually formed. Secondly, the decline ofsponsorship system. Sponsorship system for the author is not important any more,they gradually found that, it is possible to live by the fee of readers and booksellers.Thirdly，the baptism of enlightenment ideas. European culture gradually gets rid ofthe religious bondage, while the individualism is rising, and the author of theignorant right consciousness is beginning.Finally，the summarize of this chapter. The concept of author has the feature ofsocial construction, which means the author’s connotation with the change of socialstructure is endowed with new special meanings. And, in this period, even after the Anna law promulgated many years, the author still not means the "genius","original" which are the modern copyright system core meaning. So what promotethe birth of the modern system of copyright, and put the immature author to gotstarted on the stage of history? The booksellers’ role is not allowed to ignore.The second chapter retells the history of copyright’s birth, analyses the rolewhat the author and booksellers play in this event, and deep into the mystery ofliterature property.First of all, this chapter tells the up and the down of the London bookseller.Before the birth of the modern copyright regime, the British exist two similar regime:one kind is printing privilege; another is a commercial custom called bookseller’s"copyright". With the “the Licensing Act” cease to be effective, the businessmanurgently need a new regime to maintain the monopoly of the book market. So the“author” becomes the tool of the businessman to lobby congress and to demonstratethe legitimacy of literary property. In this way, the “author” becomes the core of theregime of copyright on words unexpectedly and passively.Secondly, this chapter is about the relationship of “Anna law” and the status ofthe author. In discourse level,“Anna law” gives the author the legal status and rights,but in fact, they do not enjoy the real right to property, instead, the management andcontrol by the law. In a sense,"Anna law” with the author as intermediary continuesto protect the interests of the businessman and to restrict the monopoly ofbusinessman in some extent, so understanding the" Anna law” in the point of view ofthe trade regulation law may be more accord with the history.Finally, the author backs the mystery of literature property in the history ofcopyright. Through the analysis of two classic case about Miller v. Taylor andDonaldson v. Beckett, especially the complex concepts of the author and property inthese cases, prompts the author thinks that the authors in that time just have the lawstatus in the form, however, this expression of the author becomes the core of thecopyright law. In addition, though the efforts of the booksellers to obtain permanentcopyright is failed, they gain the generalization of concepts of "author" and"copyright property", and lay the foundation to the coming copyright expansion.The third chapter is mainly about the view of romantic authorship, andbusinessmen use and reshape this idea as a tool to expand the copyright, making theparadox of the copyright more obvious.First of all, the author points out that the romantic authorship is the product of literary construction. The reality of middle class expansion in18th century Germany,prompts Germany writers eager to profit from the book market, and in literaturecarefully constructs the idea of authorship in the modern sense. Single authorseparately created a work, and singly take the responsibility of the work, so theyshould be exclusively for the income of the work, which become the consensus of themodern copyright law.Secondly, the author illustrates that, for the economic interests of thebusinessman, how they use the romantic authorship to realize copyrightexpansion.With the mature of the idea of the work,businessman start to claim for theright of new intangible property, and they revise the idea of authship to reduce theoriginal standard of the work, realizing the control of the public art, commercial art.Through a series of cases, romantic authorship is gradually secular andcommercialalizd, standding for the implementation of the commercialization ofcultural production.Finally,this chapter pionts out how the businessman reshape the authorship toestablish the principle of work for hire.Driving by the profit principle,though somerelevent cases,businessman take away the wisdom and labor and other facts from theromantic authorship,and lift the employer’s idea to the height of inspriation,and makethe employee to be liked tools,and contribute to a view of authorship compatibledwith employment work, which proofs the justification of the employment work. Theauthor in the modern society is increasingly commercialized, and to be property, andbecoming a kind of "action tool".In fourth chapter, in order to deal with the crisis of the copyright regime,and tosolve the paradox of the copyright,we need to rethink profoundly the romanticauthorship which play a dominant role in modern time.First of all, this chapter is about the crisis of copyright system in the context ofnetwork. Increasingly closed system of copyright is not accord with the liberty, andshared values of network, especially to copyright protection technology, as arepresentative of the control system, and with the merchant’s lobbying instigation,they intend to kill the characteristics of network which was free and open in theinfant. So, all kinds of aggressive groups and copyright scholars resist the recentchanges of copyright in their own way.Secondly, this chapter introduces the qustions of the scholars to the romanticauthorship. Roland barthes shouts "the death of the author," the meaning of text is not in source but in the audience; Foucault thinks that the view of the romantic authorshipis the product of18th century, and has the history structuralism, and put forward thetheory of " author function", trying to understand the author’s function in a newperspective.Finally, the author discusses the progress of the author theory, from the author tosociety. With representative of the Woodmansee and Jaszi scholars put forward "authorial constructionism", thinking the work is not based on and the genius of asingle author, but from the efforts of many authors or; while Lior Zemer puts forwardthe "social constuctionism ", arguing that the formation of the works is a collaborativeprocess, not only from a single author,but also the social public involved in thisprocess, they should share the income of the work.. The last chapter is the conclusion ahout the remodling the copyright authorshipand the authorial theoryIn short, the subject of copyright should be a single author turned to multipleinterest authors,the author of the copyright can be creators,communicators,consumers,and so on, realizing the creators, the businessmen and social public bestbalance. To realize this target,especially need social public participation in thecopyright daily game, the copyright author’s theory shall be complete luxuriant turned,instead a more open, humility, fair copyright rigime.