The majority of books held by the Bodleian Libraries, in both physical and electronic formats, can be searched via SOLO. On this page you will find recommended books, guidance on how to search for and access print and ebooks, and libraries in the University that might be relevant for your studies and research.
Libel, blasphemy, obscenity and more recent hate-speech and internet censorship laws are entrenched in the history of literary publication. Freedom of expression is enshrined in Article 10 of the European Human Rights Act but there are still many acts that govern free speech.
A defense on the grounds of literary merit was introduced in the Obscene Publications Act 1959.
Literary Trials - Exceptio Artis and Theories of Literature in Court by 
Public Trials: Burke, Zola, Arendt, and the politics of lost causes by 
Reconstituting Authority American fiction in the province of the law, 1880-1920 by There have been many instances of literature running up against the law, and many texts pay attention to some of the famous trials of literature.
From the arguments that pitted aestheticism against Victorian morality in the Oscar Wilde trials, the blasphemy laws that contested with Salman Rushdie's 'The Satanic Verses', to controversies like the Whitehouse v Lemon case that pitted James Kirkup's homosexual poem against the law, these debates are of interest to students of both law and literature in the relationship between cultural and legal values.
In the reclassified section of the Law Library, KB60-66 covers popular accounts of trials, where the trials of figures such as Oscar Wilde, DH Lawrence and James Joyce, among others, can be found. These are books are on Level 2.
Oscar Wilde on Trial: The Criminal Proceedings, from Arrest to Imprisonment by 
The Trial of Lady Chatterley by Examples of useful titles in other parts of the Bodleian
James Joyce and Censorship by Copyright is a form of intellectual property that legally secures the rights of the author over their creation. The Copyright Act 1710, or the Statute of Anne, was the first act to recognise the legal rights of the author, although it was designed to regulate the book trade rather than anything else.
Copyright and Other Fairy Tales: Hans Christian Andersen and the commodification of creativity by 
No Trespassing: authorship, intellectual property rights, and the boundaries of globalization by Related Bodleian guide for help with commentary on current law of copyright