On 6/1/99, Michael Lean <m.lean[_at_]qut.edu.au> wrote:
>
> The first Copyright Act was signed by President George Washington.
> The act protected authorship rights over books, maps and other written
> material. Rights of copy were only granted to US citizens, a mandate
> that was kept in place for more than a century.
>
> More on the famous act:
>
> http://earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/firsts/copyright/index.html
Whenever I give a presentation on (U.S.) copyright law basics, I like to start with a bit of historical perspective, and note the passage of the Copyright Act of 1790 as one of the first legislative enactments under the Constitution of 1789. I also like to point out that the power for Congress to enact copyright laws is in the body of the Constitution, while such things as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to bear arms, and so forth are mere afterthoughts (Amendments) to the Constitution; among the Framers' paramount concerns: PROPERTY.
S. Martin Keleti
<keleti[_at_]manifesto.com>
Received on Tue Jun 01 1999 - 18:38:14 GMT
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