Legal History of Copyright in the U.S.
What was the first major copyright law in the U.S. and what was the author’s intent in this legislation?
The copyright law of 1796 is the first reference law addressing copyrights. It was enacted to stimulate economic growth and western expansion. The 1976 law is the basis of today's copyright restrictions and additional modifications.
According to EL 114," The Copyright Act of 1790" was the original law. It was based on the printing press and it covered documents, authors of books, maps, and charts were granted exclusive rights for 14 years. Reasons:
"It was an era of exploration and expansion in American history,
to ensure that other countries’ publishing houses did not steal American resources,
materials were needed for the westward expansion and nation-building, and the Congress wanted to help the young U.S. economy to grow and expand intellectually, artistically, and commercially."
Thanks, Tom
The copyright act of 1790, was the first federal copyright act to be instituted in the US. it's intent was to encourage learning was achieved by securing authors the sole rights and liberty of printing reprinting publishing in defending copies of their maps, charts or books for a term of 14 years. The right to renew for one additional 14 year term. Should the copyright owner still be alive.
The first US copyright law was established in 1790, and subsequent rulings protect the rights of autors of original works.
"The United States Congress has mandated copyright laws for years (the first law being in 1790) so as to promote creativity, increase the sharing of original works, and to make sure that this ownership is not violated." I lazily copied this from the information given to us in an earlier section.
Arthur,
No problem! Thanks for being in the course!
Renee Shaffer
It was instituted with the creator in mind, so that an author would be able to maintain their writes to a work for a given period of time.
The first major copyright law was the Copyright Law of 1790. It was established to help promote and protect the economic development of the United States.
The first major copyright law in the U.S occured in 1790. The intent of this law focused on printing press and covered documents, authors of books, maps and charts.
Yvette Jimmerson
The first major copyright law was the Copyright Law of 1790. It was established to help promote the economic development of the United States. Its main focus was on printing press documents, book authors, maps, and charts.
