Historical and legal analysis of copyright protection in the Great Britain

Introduction. The history of origin and development of copyright, mechanisms of its protection is closely related to the change of paradigms, transformation of society, and emergence of qualitatively new social relations in it. The identification of general historical regularities as well as significant differences allows not only to characterise more clearly the problems arising in connection with copyright protection, but also, based on the events of the past, to identify trends in the further development of this institution. The author was given a multi–faceted task of this study – the systematization of knowledge about the subject of research with the identification of features and historical patterns associated with the emergence of the copyright institute in the UK. Essential to substantiate the existence of copyright in modern realities is the need to clarify the conceptual ideas and traditions of literary and artistic property in the law making of European states of the XIX – historical context, identifying the peculiarities of each stage, from the first royal privileges to modern approaches to copyright protection in Great Britain. Methods. The solution of the problems faced by the researcher was possible taking into account the use of methods of analysis, synthesis, analogy in combination with comparative-legal, formal-legal, systemic methods, as well as problem-theoretical and historical-legal methods of research. Results. The obtained results of the conducted historical and legal analysis supplement the knowledge on the theory and history of foreign state and law, clarify the peculiarities of the nature of copyright in its historical context. Conclusion. Identification and establishment of historical and legal connections, general historical regularities of origin, formation and further development of the institute of copyright in Great Britain (its protection) will allow to outline a number of issues arising in copyright in the modern world and to determine the trends of further development of this institute.