Since his death, Cooper has become a controversial figure among film historians with disputes arising over his professional relationship with film pioneer Birt Acres; seven films known as the GRG-Series, which archives such as the BFI's currently credit to Brighton-based filmmaker George Albert Smith; and the re-dating of the aforementioned "Matches: An Appeal", which archives such as the BFI's currently date to 1914. The claims were debated in a series of articles in "Film History" journal from 1999 to 2002, and in response to the book on Cooper published in 2009 by de Vries.