This timeline is based on the Copyright Timeline at http://arl.cni.org/info/frn/copy/timeline.html.
What I think are the most important events I have typed in bold.
Notice how many revisions and amendments to the copyright law are proposed
or adopted after 1990. The titles get longer and the changes get more specific.
This is due to the very recent advances in technology. Today's technology
creates more complex situations regarding copyright whenever it makes copying
something simpler: the photocopier made copying books easier, the MP3 music
format made copying music easier since the files were so small, the Internet
made sharing computer files easier, and so on.
Starting with the basic rule of copyright and building on it with the changes
noted in this timeline, something close enough to the current copyright law
can be obtained, at least in the context of digital technology. More details
on each copyright law or amendment would be nice, but it would probably confuse
the most of us.
1710 - British Parliament enacts the Statute of Anne, the
first copyright law
1790 - First United States copyright law: fourteen years
with fourteen year renewal
1831 - Revision to U.S. copyright: 28 years with fourteen year renewal
1870 - Administration of copyright registrations moved from district courts
to the Library of Congress Copyright Office
1886 - Berne Convention: uniform copyright law for European countries;
replaced need for registration in every country
1891 - International Copyright Treaty: international copyright bill
created by authors, publishers, and printers
1909 - Revision to U.S. copyright: protection includes all works of authorship;
28 years with 28 year renewal
1976 - Copyright Act of 1976: replaced all previous U.S. copyright
laws; term extended to life of author plus 50 years; accordance with international
copyright; technological developments addressed; fair use and first sale doctrines
codified; allowed libraries to make photocopies; various exceptions for educational
purposes
1988 - United States becomes Berne signatory; greater protection, copyright
relationships with 24 countries, and a copyright notice is no longer required
1990 - Revision to U.S. copyright: commercial lending of computer software
is prohibited
1992 - Revision to U.S. copyright: renewal is automatic
1993 - The Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights
was formed to explore copyright and the National Information Infrastructure,
"a seamless web of communications networks, computers, databases, and consumer
electronics" (Information Infrastructure Task Force)
1994 - The Working Group sponsored activities to get input on copyright
law and the NII; released a draft report called the Green Paper
1994 - The Working Group sponsored the Conference on Fair Use to discuss
fair use; proposed guidelines
1995 - The Working Group released the White Paper; recommended
amendments to the Copyright Act of 1976; introduced in Congress as the NII
Copyright Protection Act of 1995
1996 - Uruguay Round Agreements Act, signed by President Clinton in 1994,
amended U.S. copyright and restored copyright for works from certain countries
1996 - Database Investment and Intellectual Property Antipiracy Act of
1996: protected computer databases from extraction of a large amount of data
1996 - World Intellectual Property Organization: 160 countries considered
two treaties which changed the approach to copyright issues, permitted fair
use in the digital world, and emphasized the balance between the rights of
authors and the rights of the public
1998 - Copyright Term Extension Act: term extended to life of author plus
70 years
1998 - Digital Millennium Copyright Act: implemented the WIPO treaties;
protected online service providers from copyright violation; allowed temporary
copies of computer programs for maintenance purposes; protected boat hull
designs; amended the copyright law to include Internet broadcasts; prohibited
circumvention of technological protection measures in order to get unauthorized
access
1999 - Uniform Computer Information Transaction Act: proposed unified approach
to licensing of information and software
1999 - Digital Theft Deterrence and Copyright Damages Improvement Act of
1999: increased minimum statutory damages for copyright infringement from
$500 to $700; maximum from $20,000 to $30,000; maximum for willful infringement
from $100,000 to $150,000
2000 - Virginia passes UCITA
2000 - Library of Congress decides on two kinds of works to be exempt from
the DMCA Anti-Circumvention Provision: lists of Web sites blocked by filtering
software and works with access control that fails due to malfunction, damage,
or obsolescence
2001 - Intellectual Property Protection Restoration Act of 2001: I can't
figure out what this says! See the Copyright Timeline mentioned earlier and
tell me what you think it means.
2002 - Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act:
any device that can read, store, or record copyrighted digital information
is required to comply with copy protection schemes encoded in digital works
2002 - 38 amendments made to the UCITA; UCITA downgraded from a "uniform
law" to a "model law"; seeks to replace public copyright with private contracts
2002 - CTEA is argued to be unconstitutional; a federal appeals court found
it permissible and constitutional; the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to
announce a decision next year
2002 - Technology Education and Copyright Harmonization Act: allows using
more materials in distance education, delivering content to students outside
classrooms, keeping archives of course materials on servers, and conversion
of works from analog to digital formats, with many limitations