The Statute of Anne, widely considered the world’s first copyright statute and the precursor to modern copyright law, went into effect on April 10, 1710, thus making this year (2010) the “tricentennial of copyright law.”
The Statute of Anne was formally entitled “An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by Vesting the Copies of Printed Books in the Authors or Purchasers of Such Copies, During the Times therein Mentioned” and was enacted in the United Kingdom during the reign of its namesake, Queen Anne.