Licensing of the Press Act 1662

Printing presses were not to be set up without notice to the Stationers' Company. A king's messenger had power by warrant of the king or a secretary of state to enter and search for unlicensed presses and printing. Severe penalties by fine and imprisonment were denounced against offenders. Under the powers of the act Sir Roger L'Estrange was appointed licenser, and the effect of the supervision was that practically the newspaper press was reduced to the London Gazette. The act expired in 1679, and for the remainder of the reign of Charles II, as in the reign of George III, the restrictions on the press took the form of prosecutions for libel. == Subsequent developments ==

The act was continued until the end of the next session of parliament (2 March 1665) by section 1 of the '''''' (16 Cha. 2. c. 8). The act was continued until the end of the next session of parliament (31 October 1665) by section 1 of the '''''' (16 & 17 Cha. 2. c. 7). The act was continued until the end of the first session of the next parliament (12 July 1679) by section 1 of the '''''' (17 Cha. 2. c. 4). The act was revived and continued until the end of the next session of parliament after 7 years from 24 June 1685 (14 March 1693) by section 15 of the Administration of Intestates' Estate Act 1685 (1 Ja. 2. c. 17). This argument persuaded the Parliament and in 1710 the first Copyright Act (8 Ann. c. 21) was enacted. The power of a secretary of state to issue a warrant, whether general or special, for the purpose of searching for and seizing the author of a libel or the libellous papers themselves – a power exercised by the Star Chamber and confirmed by the act – was still asserted, and was not finally declared illegal until the case of Entick v. Carrington in 1765 (St. Tr. xix. 1030). In 1776 the House of Commons came to a resolution in accordance with this decision. The compulsory stamp duty on newspapers was abandoned in 1855 by the Newspapers Act 1855 (18 & 19 Vict. c. 27), the duty on paper in 1861 by the Customs and Inland Revenue Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. 20), the optional duty on newspapers in 1870 by the Sligo and Cashel Disfranchisement Act 1870 (33 & 34 Vict. c. 38). From that time the English press may be said to date its complete freedom, which rests rather upon an oral constitutional rather than a statutory foundation. No legislative provision confirms the freedom of the press, as is the case in many countries. The whole act was repealed by section 1 of, and the schedule to, the Statute Law Revision Act 1863 (26 & 27 Vict. c. 125), which came into force on 28 July 1863. == See also ==