Editing Statute of Anne (section)

===Impact===
The statute was initially welcomed, ushering in "stability to an insecure book trade" while providing for a "pragmatic bargain" between the rights of the author, publisher and public intended to boost public learning and the availability of knowledge.{{sfn|Deazley|2006|p=14}} The clause requiring book deposits, however, was not seen as a success. If the books were not deposited, the penalties would be severe, with a fine of £5. The number of deposits required, however, meant that it was a substantial burden; a print run might only be of 250 copies, and if they were particularly expensive to print, it could be cheaper to ignore the law. Some booksellers argued that the deposit provision only applied to registered books, and so deliberately avoided registration just to be able to minimise their liability.{{sfn|Seville|2010|p=828}} This was further undermined by the ruling in ''[[Beckford v Hood]]'',<ref>(1798) 7 D&E 620</ref> where the [[Court of King's Bench (England)|Court of King's Bench]] confirmed that, even without registration, copyright could be enforced against infringers.{{sfn|Seville|2010|p=829}}

Another failure, identified by Bracha, is not found in what the statute covered, but in what it did not. The statute did not provide any means for identifying authors, did not identify what constituted authored works, and covered only "books", even while discussing "property" as a whole. Moreover, the right provided was merely that of "making and selling&nbsp;... exact reprints. To a large extent, the new regime was the old stationer's privilege, except it was universalised, capped in time, and formally conferred upon authors rather than publishers".{{sfn|Bracha|2010|p=1439}} The effect of the statute on authors was also minimal. Previously, publishers would have bought the original manuscript from writers for a lump sum; with the passage of the statute, they simply did the same thing, but with the manuscript's copyright as well. The remaining economic power of the company also allowed them to pressure booksellers and distributors into continuing their past arrangements, meaning that even theoretically "public domain" works were, in practise, still treated as copyrighted.{{sfn|Bracha|2010|p=1439}}