**LITERARY PROPERTY. -** The “most sacred and most precious of properties” was first legally recognized in a decree of the French National Assembly concerning performances, dated 13–19 January 1791, which prohibited the performance of works by living authors without their consent; two years later, with the law of 19–24 July 1793, the exclusive right of the author over all intellectual works was recognized.
In Italy, the first law on literary property was that of 19 February, year IX (9 May 1801) of the Cisalpine Republic, followed by the laws of the Kingdom of Italy, the Edict of 23 September 1826 for the Papal States, the decree of 5 February 1828 for the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the Civil Code of 1836 for the Kingdom of Sardinia, and the decree of 22 December 1840 by Maria Luigia for the Duchy of Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla. After unification, this matter was regulated mainly by the consolidated texts of 1865, 1882, and 1925, and is currently governed by articles 2575–83 of the Civil Code, by the law of 22 April 1941, no. 633, and by the royal decree of 18 May 1942, no. 1369 (in force from 18 December of the same year), as well as by some minor provisions. On 9 September 1886, Italy adhered to the International Union of Berne, established among France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Great Britain, Switzerland, Haiti, and Tunisia (to which other nations later adhered) for relations with foreigners, and subsequently adopted the modifications that the convention itself has undergone.
Under current laws, it being established that any exploitation of a literary or artistic work is reserved to the author and that the right to publish includes the use of printing and any means of reproduction, as well as the transcription of readings by means of shorthand typing and the public recitation of passages from the work, such a work may not be published, translated, reproduced, performed, or represented without the authorization of the author or his successors in title; and since it is not easy to establish the boundary between public and private performance of a dramatic work, the Italian legislator has determined that a performance is public when it is not given within the family circle, that is, when the representation is given outside the ordinary sphere of a family, a boarding school, or a school.
The author’s exclusive right begins from the date of first publication and lasts for the author’s entire life and for fifty years after his death. For works published at the expense and on behalf of the State and public administrations, the right has been limited to twenty years from publication, and for collaborative works the duration is determined by the life of the collaborator who dies last (v. also IMMATERIAL PROPERTY).
Although legislative documents are not normally included among the works protected by copyright laws, the Holy See has reserved for itself the literary property right over the *Codex Iuris Canonici*.