On 01 Jun 1999, 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
I am puzzled. The Statute of Anne, passed in 1709, authors and their assigns were given the sole right to print books for 14 years from publication, etc. renewable for another 14 year term. My English friends usually refer to this as the first, even though it succeeded licensing acts that had much the same effect.
Albert Henderson
Editor, PUBLISHING RESEARCH QUARTERLY
<70244.1532[_at_]compuserve.com>
<noblestation[_at_]compuserve.com>
Received on Thu Jun 03 1999 - 00:01:13 GMT
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