From the Author to the Proprietor: Newspaper Copyright and The Times (1842-1956)

This article explores a major transformation in newspaper copyright that aided the emergence of modern media markets. Part 1 examines the legal foundation of news copyright in the Copyright Act 1842 (UK). In Part 2, we show how the reporter's right was difficult to reconcile with newspaper management practices and how it tended to frustrate the commercial ambitions of proprietors intent on expanding markets and opportunities. Part 3 then explores the creative role played by managers at The Times and key legal personnel in devising 'workarounds' in order to reimagine copyright, freeing it in practice from the previous limitations of the author model. Part 4 demonstrates how this broad-based proprietor's right was then deployed in order to deliver expectations of exclusive control over channels of media distribution, allowing for serialisation and syndication of copyright 'matter' across time and space. Part 5 reflects on how the eminent barrister and advisor to The Times, AD Russell-Clarke, further instructed on how to shore up this reconstructed copyright, with a view to revising contracts to secure a firmer legal foundation for the enterprise. The article draws heavily on original internal correspondence from The Times and other archival sources. Reprinted by permission of Hart Publishing