Craig Joyce (University of Houston Law Center - Institute for Intellectual Property & Information Law) & L. Ray Patterson (University of Houston Law Center (Deceased)) have posted Copyright in 1791: An Essay Concerning the Founders' View of the Copyright Power Granted to Congress in Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the Us Constitution on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
Copyright in 1791: An Essay explores the meaning of the Copyright Clause of the United States Constitution as the Founders understood it in their own time. In his examination of the history of copyright prior to the adoption of the Constitution, Professor Joyce and his co-author, L. Ray Patterson of Georgia, consider the language of the Founders' provision for copyright against the background of Anglo-American copyright history from the 16th Century to 1787. Among their principal findings is that, to the Founders, a relatively brief term of protection, followed by entry of the work into the public domain, was a crucial element of the copyright grant required to protect against the inherent dangers of the copyright monopoly.
