Books by Benedict Atkinson

This book tells the story of how, over centuries, people, society and culture created laws affecting the supply of information. It details the origins of copyright laws and examines their effect on information dissemination.

Presents writings, social teachings, testimonies and reports of figures as diverse as Karl Marx, Victor Hugo, Charles Dickens and Mark Twain, and bodies such as the US Congress. This title charts the development of an international system of copyright regulation, and the growth of copyright industries benefiting from copyright laws.

Discusses how proprietary notions increasingly dominated copyright legal principles, with consequences for information dissemination in modern times. This title covers the period to 1850, and begins with extracts from Roman law and early Christian and medieval teaching on ownership.