©1710: 300 Years of Copyright, From the Printing Press to AI

Royall.ai

©1710 is a five-minute podcast about the history of copyright, from the printing press to AI. Every time someone invents a new way to copy something, a fight breaks out over who owns it. This show tells those stories in order, starting in 1710 with the Statute of Anne, the first modern copyright law. That means a photographer taking Oscar Wilde’s portrait to the Supreme Court, and Mickey Mouse becoming the reason copyright lasts so long. It means Hollywood trying to kill the VCR, Bette Midler suing Ford over a soundalike, and 2 Live Crew winning the right to parody. Then come Metallica vs. Napster, the monkey selfie, “Blurred Lines” and the fake Drake song made with AI. It’s music, film, tech and internet culture, told through the fights over who owns what. New episodes every week, plus ©Now, which covers the latest news on AI, copyright and digital identity and connects it back to the history. ©1710 is produced by Royall, which is building identity rights infrastructure so people can register, license and protect their face and voice in the AI era. Copyright took 300 years to protect what people create. The next question is who owns a person’s face and voice. You don’t need to know anything about Royall to enjoy the show. Narrated by Claudette, an AI voice from the ElevenLabs Voice Library. Episodes are researched and written with AI assistance and reviewed by a human editor. Sources and transcripts are in the show notes. For information and entertainment only, not legal advice.

Episodes

  1. Oct 10

    ©Now: Scarlett Johansson and OpenAI’s “Sky”: Who Owns a Voice That Sounds Like Yours? (2024)

    In May 2024, Scarlett Johansson said OpenAI had released a ChatGPT voice called Sky that was “so eerily similar to mine,” months after she turned down an offer to voice the product. Johansson says Sam Altman asked her in September 2023 and she said no. OpenAI says Sky is a different actress using her own natural voice, hired before anyone contacted Johansson, and The Washington Post’s review of the casting records lines up with that timeline. We trace it back to 1988, when Bette Midler won her case against Ford over a soundalike: “A voice is as distinctive and personal as a face.” In this episode: What happened between Scarlett Johansson and OpenAIWho voiced Sky, and what the casting records showSam Altman’s one-word “Her” postIs your voice protected by law in the U.S.?How Midler v. Ford (1988) comparesAs of recording: no court has decided anything. Johansson alleges OpenAI went after a voice like hers after she said no, and OpenAI denies it. She has not sued, OpenAI has paused Sky, and a federal bill to protect voice and likeness is still pending in Congress. ©1710 is a five-minute history of copyright, from the printing press to AI. Sources and transcript are in the show notes. Narrated by Claudette, an AI voice from the ElevenLabs Voice Library. Researched and written with AI assistance and reviewed by a human editor. Produced by Royall. For information and entertainment only, not legal advice.

    ©Now: Scarlett Johansson and OpenAI’s “Sky”: Who Owns a Voice That Sounds Like Yours? (2024)

  2. Oct 10

    Ep. 5 · America’s First Copyright Act: It Started With a Spelling Book (1790)

    The Copyright Act of 1790, signed by George Washington on May 31, 1790, was the first U.S. federal copyright law, protecting maps, charts and books for fourteen years, with fourteen more if the author was still alive. The first work registered was The Philadelphia Spelling Book, entered by a schoolmaster named John Barry on June 9, 1790. One legal historian calls the law “almost identical” to Britain’s Statute of Anne, with one American addition: protection was for citizens and residents only, and Section 5 said in writing that reprinting foreign authors was fine. In this episode: What the Copyright Act of 1790 covered, and what it left outThe first work ever registered for U.S. copyrightHow you registered a copyright in 1790: a court clerk, sixty cents and four weeks of newspaper noticesWhy American law allowed reprinting foreign authorsHow few works were registered: fewer than 800 of more than 15,000 in the first decade©1710 is a five-minute history of copyright, from the printing press to AI. Sources and transcript are in the show notes. Narrated by Claudette, an AI voice from the ElevenLabs Voice Library. Researched and written with AI assistance and reviewed by a human editor. Produced by Royall. For information and entertainment only, not legal advice.

  3. Oct 10

    Ep. 4 · The Copyright Clause: Why “Copyright” Isn’t in the U.S. Constitution (1787)

    The Copyright Clause, approved at the Constitutional Convention in September 1787, gives Congress the power to protect the work of authors and inventors “for limited Times,” and it never uses the word copyright. After the Revolution, copyright was left to the states, and twelve of them passed twelve different laws. James Madison put “literary property” on his list of the union’s problems, and that summer in Philadelphia the Convention approved one sentence on it without any recorded debate. The sentence lets Congress create a right, with a purpose and a time limit attached. In this episode: What the Copyright Clause actually saysWhy the word “copyright” isn’t in the ConstitutionNoah Webster, Connecticut and the state copyright laws of the 1780sJames Madison, Charles Pinckney and the proposals of August 1787What “limited Times” means, and the 1998 “Mickey Mouse Protection Act” fight©1710 is a five-minute history of copyright, from the printing press to AI. Sources and transcript are in the show notes. Narrated by Claudette, an AI voice from the ElevenLabs Voice Library. Researched and written with AI assistance and reviewed by a human editor. Produced by Royall. For information and entertainment only, not legal advice.

  4. Oct 10

    Ep. 3 · Donaldson v. Becket: The Day Copyright Stopped Lasting Forever (1774)

    Donaldson v. Becket was the 1774 House of Lords decision that ended perpetual copyright in Britain and put published books back on the Statute of Anne’s time limit. For five years after a 1769 ruling, English courts treated copyright as permanent. Then a Scottish bookseller named Alexander Donaldson reprinted James Thomson’s poem The Seasons anyway and appealed all the way to the Lords, where Lord Camden called the London booksellers’ precedents “a heterogeneous heap of rubbish.” The Lords reversed the injunction, and six days later the booksellers were asking Parliament for their right back. In this episode: What Donaldson v. Becket decidedThe 1769 King’s Bench ruling that made copyright permanent for five yearsLord Camden’s “cobweb chains” speechWhy the famous vote count doesn’t hold upHow the case made the public domain real©1710 is a five-minute history of copyright, from the printing press to AI. Sources and transcript are in the show notes. Narrated by Claudette, an AI voice from the ElevenLabs Voice Library. Researched and written with AI assistance and reviewed by a human editor. Produced by Royall. For information and entertainment only, not legal advice.

  5. Oct 10

    Ep. 2 · Hogarth’s Act: The Artist Who Got Copied and Changed the Law (1735)

    Hogarth’s Act, which took effect in June 1735, gave British artists fourteen years of copyright in prints they designed and engraved themselves, and it’s counted as the first time copyright law reached beyond books. William Hogarth’s A Harlot’s Progress sold more than twelve hundred subscriptions in 1732, and at least eight pirated versions followed. The Statute of Anne only covered books, so he and six other artists petitioned Parliament, calling themselves “opress’d by the tyranny of the Rich.” Then he held back his next series, A Rake’s Progress, until the law was in force. In this episode: What Hogarth’s Act was and what it protectedWhy the Statute of Anne didn’t cover picturesHow Hogarth cut out the printsellers by selling on subscriptionWhy A Rake’s Progress waited for the law“An equal Right to every Subject”: why you can own your version of an idea but not the idea©1710 is a five-minute history of copyright, from the printing press to AI. Sources and transcript are in the show notes. Narrated by Claudette, an AI voice from the ElevenLabs Voice Library. Researched and written with AI assistance and reviewed by a human editor. Produced by Royall. For information and entertainment only, not legal advice.

  6. Oct 10

    Ep. 1 · The Statute of Anne: Why Copyright Has an Expiry Date (1710)

    The Statute of Anne, passed in April 1710, is widely seen as the first modern copyright law, and it’s the reason copyright runs out. London’s booksellers went to Parliament asking for permanent ownership of the books they printed. They came away with fourteen years, “and no longer,” plus a second fourteen-year term that went back to the author, not the bookseller. We get into what the law actually did, including nine free copies for libraries and the Archbishop of Canterbury ruling on overpriced books, and what people still get wrong about it. In this episode: What the Statute of Anne was and why it’s called thatHow a booksellers’ bill “for Securing the Property of Copies in Books” turned into a time-limited rightThe 14-year term, the author’s second term, and the 21 years for older booksWhy the law didn’t actually hand control to authorsHow a 1710 British law became the foundation of U.S. copyright©1710 is a five-minute history of copyright, from the printing press to AI. Sources and transcript are in the show notes. Narrated by Claudette, an AI voice from the ElevenLabs Voice Library. Researched and written with AI assistance and reviewed by a human editor. Produced by Royall. For information and entertainment only, not legal advice.

  7. Oct 10

    Ep. 0 · Before Copyright: The First Copyright Fight Probably Never Happened (c. 560–1695)

    Before the first copyright law in 1710, the right to copy a book belonged to teachers, kings, printers and guilds for more than a thousand years, and never to the person who wrote it. Around 560, the Irish monk Columba is said to have secretly copied a borrowed book of psalms, and a king ruled against him: “To every cow belongs her calf. Therefore, to every book belongs its copy.” The battle that followed was real, but nobody wrote down the part about the book until 1532. From there we go to Gutenberg’s press, Venice handing one printer a monopoly on “the entire art of printing,” and the London guild that held printing rights for about 150 years while John Milton got five pounds up front for Paradise Lost. In this episode: Was St Columba’s copied psalter really the first copyright case?What the Cathach is and why it’s called “the Battler”How Gutenberg’s printing press made copies worth fighting overVenice’s 1469 printing monopoly and the first author’s privilege in 1486The Stationers’ Company, John Locke and the end of the Licensing Act in 1695©1710 is a five-minute history of copyright, from the printing press to AI. Sources and transcript are in the show notes. Narrated by Claudette, an AI voice from the ElevenLabs Voice Library. Researched and written with AI assistance and reviewed by a human editor. Produced by Royall. For information and entertainment only, not legal advice.

  • 7 Episodes

About

©1710 is a five-minute podcast about the history of copyright, from the printing press to AI. Every time someone invents a new way to copy something, a fight breaks out over who owns it. This show tells those stories in order, starting in 1710 with the Statute of Anne, the first modern copyright law. That means a photographer taking Oscar Wilde’s portrait to the Supreme Court, and Mickey Mouse becoming the reason copyright lasts so long. It means Hollywood trying to kill the VCR, Bette Midler suing Ford over a soundalike, and 2 Live Crew winning the right to parody. Then come Metallica vs. Napster, the monkey selfie, “Blurred Lines” and the fake Drake song made with AI. It’s music, film, tech and internet culture, told through the fights over who owns what. New episodes every week, plus ©Now, which covers the latest news on AI, copyright and digital identity and connects it back to the history. ©1710 is produced by Royall, which is building identity rights infrastructure so people can register, license and protect their face and voice in the AI era. Copyright took 300 years to protect what people create. The next question is who owns a person’s face and voice. You don’t need to know anything about Royall to enjoy the show. Narrated by Claudette, an AI voice from the ElevenLabs Voice Library. Episodes are researched and written with AI assistance and reviewed by a human editor. Sources and transcripts are in the show notes. For information and entertainment only, not legal advice.

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