Copyright Law and the Public Interest in the Nineteenth Century

As the only book that focuses directly on the public interest in its historical context, Alexander's monograph is a welcome addition to the body of scholarship on the history of copyright law. This is especially so given that the book is very well researched and executed.

...her interpretations and reasoning are well supported. As a consequence, serious students and scholars of the history of copyright law – whether specialists or not – must now add Alexander's book to their reading list. I learned much from it.
H. Tomas Gomez-Arostegui
The IP Law Book Review
Volume 2, Number 1, September 2011



The book, in addition to being an essential read for the student of copyright history, also provides much food for thought to those interested in contemporary intellectual property debates.
Oren Bracha
Law and History Review
Volume 29/2 – May 2011



Alexander's work sets out to historicise and problematise the concept of the public interest within copyright discourse, while at the same time championing its continued relevance for contemporary policy and debate. In both respects Copyright Law and Public Interest in the Nineteenth Century can be considered a success.
Ronan Deazley
The Modern Law Review
74 (3) 2011



Alexander's book is descriptive, narrative legal history at its most readable and enjoyable…[it] may both be read in one sitting and employed for detailed reference later by legal historians, lawyers and students.

Regardless of one's perspective… this book will not disappoint. The original and secondary source materials Alexander draws upon, as well as her careful and yet entertaining distillation of meanings, indisputably makes her work a really worthwhile read. Indeed, this book could well become required reading for future counsel appearing before Australia's High Court, or elsewhere in the common law world.
Louise Buckingham
Copyright Reporter
Volume 28, Number 4, December 2010



This book is very interesting and well-researched in what it is: an insight into the notion of public interest in British copyright law of the nineteenth century.

...this book makes a significant contribution in the area.
Irini Stamatoudi
The Law and Poltics Book Review
February 2011



The book is, first and foremost, a much needed comprehensive survey of the development of British copyright law from the beginning of the nineteenth century until the 1911 Imperial Copyright Act.

The survey aspect of the book is an extremely valuable contribution in its own right. Some of the nineteenth-century landmarks of British copyright law were covered in other works before, but none of those other works presented a systematic and comprehensive account of the kind offered by Alexander.
Oren Bracha
Texas Law Review
Volume 89



The history of copyright law is now well-trodden ground, particularly over the last decade or so, with notable works...yet despite these contributions, Isabella Alexander is able to provide a new, exciting, and original work.

Copyright Law and the Public Interest in the Nineteenth Century is not only an important contribution to scholarship in copyright history, but also in the appreciation of the role of a so-called public interest in that history. It is a book of which all copyright scholars should take note.
Phillip Johnson
Journal of Intellectual Property Law and Practice
Volume 5, 2010