Press laws
Encyclopedia
Press Laws are the laws concerning the licensing of books and the liberty of expression in all products of the printing-press, especially newspapers . The liberty of the press has always been regarded by political writers as of supreme importance. Give me liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all other liberties, says Milton
in the Areopagitica
.
Before the invention of printing
, the Church assumed the right to control the expression of all opinion distasteful to her. When the printing press was invented, German
printers established themselves at various important centres of western Europe, where already numbers of copyists were employed in multiplying manuscripts. In 1473 Louis XI granted letters patent (giving the right of printing and selling books) to Uldaric Quring (Ulrich Gering), who three years earlier had set up a press in the Sorbonne (the theological faculty of the university at Paris
), and before long Paris had more than fifty presses at work. The Church and universities soon found the output of books beyond their control. In 1496 Pope Alexander VI
began to be restrictive, and in 1501 he issued a bull against unlicensed printing, which introduced the principle of censorship. Between 1524 and 1548 the Imperial Diet in Germany
drew up various stringent regulations; and in France, prohibited by edict, under penalty of death, the printing of books, This was too severe, however, and shortly afterwards the Sorbonne was given the right of deciding, a system which lasted to the Revolution
.
was either restrictive or corrective, i.e., it interfered to restrict or prevent publication, or it enforced penalties after publication. Repression of free discussion was regarded as so necessary a part of government that Sir Thomas More in his Utopia
makes it punishable with death for a private individual to criticize the conduct of the ruling power. Under Mary, printing was confined to members of the Stationers Company, founded by royal charter in 1556. Under Elizabeth the Star Chamber assumed the right to confine printing to London, Oxford and Cambridge, to limit the number of printers and presses, to prohibit all publications issued without proper licence, and to enter houses to search for unlicensed presses and publications.
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
in the Areopagitica
Areopagitica
Areopagitica: A speech of Mr. John Milton for the liberty of unlicensed printing to the Parliament of England is a 1644 prose polemical tract by English author John Milton against censorship...
.
Before the invention of printing
Printing
Printing is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing....
, the Church assumed the right to control the expression of all opinion distasteful to her. When the printing press was invented, German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
printers established themselves at various important centres of western Europe, where already numbers of copyists were employed in multiplying manuscripts. In 1473 Louis XI granted letters patent (giving the right of printing and selling books) to Uldaric Quring (Ulrich Gering), who three years earlier had set up a press in the Sorbonne (the theological faculty of the university at Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
), and before long Paris had more than fifty presses at work. The Church and universities soon found the output of books beyond their control. In 1496 Pope Alexander VI
Pope Alexander VI
Pope Alexander VI , born Roderic Llançol i Borja was Pope from 1492 until his death on 18 August 1503. He is one of the most controversial of the Renaissance popes, and his Italianized surname—Borgia—became a byword for the debased standards of the Papacy of that era, most notoriously the Banquet...
began to be restrictive, and in 1501 he issued a bull against unlicensed printing, which introduced the principle of censorship. Between 1524 and 1548 the Imperial Diet in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
drew up various stringent regulations; and in France, prohibited by edict, under penalty of death, the printing of books, This was too severe, however, and shortly afterwards the Sorbonne was given the right of deciding, a system which lasted to the Revolution
Revolution
A revolution is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.Aristotle described two types of political revolution:...
.
Censorship
CensorshipCensorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
was either restrictive or corrective, i.e., it interfered to restrict or prevent publication, or it enforced penalties after publication. Repression of free discussion was regarded as so necessary a part of government that Sir Thomas More in his Utopia
Utopia
Utopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...
makes it punishable with death for a private individual to criticize the conduct of the ruling power. Under Mary, printing was confined to members of the Stationers Company, founded by royal charter in 1556. Under Elizabeth the Star Chamber assumed the right to confine printing to London, Oxford and Cambridge, to limit the number of printers and presses, to prohibit all publications issued without proper licence, and to enter houses to search for unlicensed presses and publications.
See also
- Freedom of the pressFreedom of the pressFreedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through vehicles including various electronic media and published materials...
- Modern Law ReviewModern Law ReviewThe Modern Law Review is a law review published in the United Kingdom by John Wiley & Sons and which has traditionally maintained close academic ties with the Law Department of the London School of Economics....