Understanding textual authorship in the digital environment: lessons from historical perspectives

Introduction. The paper explains how the modern understanding of authorship developed and sets out the problems to be considered when discussing digital authorship. Method. The contextual analysis of contents of the key themes is employed; in the articulation of the conclusions, analytic and synthetic approaches are used. Results. At each turning point, a new layer, immanent to the modern concept, was assigned to authorship. Reference is made to changes reflecting the specifics of digital authorship, emphasising the context conditioning the position of author and the attitude to an authorial work. Conclusions. A digital author is more independent of a publisher; the work is more visible; attention is directed at the work at the expense of its medium. However, digital authors own material and moral rights to the work, which are international, while their position is made relative and re-examined. The behaviour of authors, the possibilities of Page 1 of 10 Understanding textual authorship in the digital environment: lessons from historical persp... 11/12/2013 http://informationr.net/ir/18-3/colis/paperC19.html publishing and accessing the work and the paradigm of preserving a work are changing in the digital environment.