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Printer in the middle: The Copyright Act 1879, the NSW Government Printing Office and legal deposit in nineteenth-century Australia.

Bibliographic Details
Title: Printer in the middle: The Copyright Act 1879, the NSW Government Printing Office and legal deposit in nineteenth-century Australia.
Authors: Hargrave, Jocelyn
Source: Media History; Nov 2021, Vol. 27 Issue 4, p438-456, 19p
Abstract: In The Government and Copyright, John Gilchrist poses the following questions regarding government and the Copyright Act 1968: 'Should the government have a role as preserver of its own and privately owned copyright material? [...] How adequate is the present law to achieve this objective?' Similar questions could be applied to nineteenth-century Australia. As Government Printer, Thomas Richards oversaw the printing operations of the NSW Government Printing Office (GPO). When the Copyright Act 1879 (NSW) was enacted, Richards was appointed Registrar of Copyright and Office of Copyright Registry was situated at the GPO. Why was the government printer responsible for copyright, not the government or the libraries that oversaw legal deposit? Did Richards have the necessary resources? Was there a conflict of interest? This essay seeks to gauge the relationship between the GPO and the Copyright Act 1879 and the wider implications of copyright for nineteenth-century Australian print culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Subject Terms: NINETEENTH century, PRINT culture, INK-jet printing, CONFLICT of interests, COPYRIGHT
Geographic Terms: NEW South Wales, AUSTRALIA
Company/Entity: UNITED States. Government Publishing Office
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ISSN: 13688804
DOI: 10.1080/13688804.2020.1833711
Database: Complementary Index
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