Commentary on The Swedish Freedom of the Press Ordinance (1766)
Nordin, Jonas LU
(2023)
- Abstract
- The ordinance installed the first legally sanctioned freedom of the press in the world and was preceded by decades of discussions, proposals, and investigations. The issued ordinance was a compromise between various interests; it was not the unlimited freedom of the press that many had hoped for. Prior censorship was abolished except for theological writings, but it was still forbidden to publish seditious libel, defamation, and indecencies. As long as the author was known and took responsibility for the written material, the printer could not be prosecuted, which was a relaxation of previous restrictions. Book import was still regulated. Despite these limitations, the freedom of the press ordinance meant an upswing, particularly for... (More)
- The ordinance installed the first legally sanctioned freedom of the press in the world and was preceded by decades of discussions, proposals, and investigations. The issued ordinance was a compromise between various interests; it was not the unlimited freedom of the press that many had hoped for. Prior censorship was abolished except for theological writings, but it was still forbidden to publish seditious libel, defamation, and indecencies. As long as the author was known and took responsibility for the written material, the printer could not be prosecuted, which was a relaxation of previous restrictions. Book import was still regulated. Despite these limitations, the freedom of the press ordinance meant an upswing, particularly for political pamphleteering, and several new printing houses were established. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/241a5701-111a-491f-993b-9272c829fcad
- author
- Nordin, Jonas
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2023-10-01
- type
- Other contribution
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- freedom of the press, copyright, book history, freedom of the press, copyright, book history
- editor
- Bently, Lionel and Kretschmer, Martin
- publisher
- Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge
- project
- The Scoundrel Years: Scandinavian impudence of the press and print industry, c. 1760-1800
- Slyngelåren: Skandinavisk tryckfräckhet och boktryckerinäring ca 1760–1800
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Bently & Kretschmer (eds), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900) (www.copyrighthistory.org)
- id
- 241a5701-111a-491f-993b-9272c829fcad
- alternative location
- https://www.copyrighthistory.org/cam/tools/request/showRecord.php?id=commentary_sc_1766
- date added to LUP
- 2023-10-11 21:44:24
- date last changed
- 2023-10-13 13:55:24
@misc{241a5701-111a-491f-993b-9272c829fcad,
abstract = {{The ordinance installed the first legally sanctioned freedom of the press in the world and was preceded by decades of discussions, proposals, and investigations. The issued ordinance was a compromise between various interests; it was not the unlimited freedom of the press that many had hoped for. Prior censorship was abolished except for theological writings, but it was still forbidden to publish seditious libel, defamation, and indecencies. As long as the author was known and took responsibility for the written material, the printer could not be prosecuted, which was a relaxation of previous restrictions. Book import was still regulated. Despite these limitations, the freedom of the press ordinance meant an upswing, particularly for political pamphleteering, and several new printing houses were established.}},
author = {{Nordin, Jonas}},
editor = {{Bently, Lionel and Kretschmer, Martin}},
keywords = {{freedom of the press; copyright; book history; freedom of the press; copyright; book history}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{10}},
publisher = {{Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge}},
title = {{Commentary on The Swedish Freedom of the Press Ordinance (1766)}},
url = {{https://www.copyrighthistory.org/cam/tools/request/showRecord.php?id=commentary_sc_1766}},
year = {{2023}},
}