1.5.1 - Historical perspective

Privileges. When reviewing the justifications for intellectual property rights, it is also important not to lose sight of the historical perspective. Today’s intellectual property rights, in particular patents and copyrights, were preceded by so-called privileges or letters patent that were granted during the Middle Ages. These privileges were issued by the monarch or the state and granted their beneficiary with an exclusive right or monopoly. That monopoly could be for the use of an invention or the printing of a book, but could cover all kinds of other topics, such as the right to exploit a postal service, the right to sell certain products or the right to practice a particular profession. These privileges or letters patent were typically granted by the competent authority as it saw fit, without a potential beneficiary being able to claim such a privilege as a matter of legal entitlement.

Hugo Grotius. In 1628 and 1629 both the Dutch States General and the State of Holland refused to grant a privilege on the printing of Hugo Grotius’ work “Inleijdinghe tot de Hol­landtsche rechtsge­leertheijt” because they saw Grotius as a political adversary (De Beaufort, 1909, p. 6).

Law. In England the Statute of Anne of 1710 demarcated the end of privileges by introducing a copyright. For continental European countries the end of privileges and their replacement with intellectual property rights was marked by the French Revolution of 1789. The ideas of the Enlightenment and the concept of human rights led to the abolishment of the guild system and the introduction of freedom of trade. Privileges that were awarded at the discretion of the government were overtaken by certain rights that a citizen is entitled to as a matter of law.