PRIMARY SOURCES

ON COPYRIGHT

(1450-1900)

Connecticut Copyright Statute, Connecticut (1783)

Source: The University of Texas School of Law Library Tarlton Law Library, KFC 3630 1784 A2132: Acts and laws of the State of Connecticut in America, New London, Connecticut: T. Green, printer to the Governor and Company of the State of Connecticut, 1784, 133.

Citation:
Connecticut Copyright Statute, Connecticut (1783), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org

Back | Record | Images | Commentaries: [1]
Record-ID: us_1783a

Permanent link: https://copyrighthistory.org/cam/tools/request/showRecord.php?id=record_us_1783a

Full title:
An Act for the Encouragement of Literature and Genius

Full title original language:
N/A

Abstract:
The first general copyright statute to be enacted in the American states. Copyright Statutes that created general copyright regimes on the state level were passed in twelve out of thirteen of the states between 1783 and 1786. The states' copyright enactments were the result of local lobbying by various authors and their political allies, and of a resolution by the Continental Congress recommending such state legislation. They mark a rising interest in the United States in copyright protection and an ideological reorientation toward authors' rights and interests. The commentary describes the lobbying process on the state and national level, the emergence of an articulated ideology of authors' copyright based on natural rights and utilitarian justifications, and the main institutional features of copyright under the state statutes.

1 Commentary:
commentary_us_1783a

Bibliography:
  • Crawford, Francine. 'Pre-Constitutional Copyright Statutes.' Bull. Copyright Soc. 23 (1975): 11-37.

  • Bugbee, Bruce Willis. The Genesis of American Patent and Copyright Law. Washington D.C.: Public Affairs Press, 1967.


Related documents in this database:
1782: Letter from Smith to Webster
1783: Continental Congress Resolution
1783: Massachusetts Copyright Statute
1783: Maryland Copyright Statute
1783: New Jersey Copyright Statute
1783: New Hampshire Copyright Statute
1783: Rhode Island Copyright Statute
1783: Ledyard Petition Committee Report
1784: Pennsylvania Copyright Statute
1784: South Carolina Copyright Statute
1785: Virginia Copyright Statute
1785: North Carolina Copyright Statute
1786: Georgia Copyright Statute
1786: New York Copyright Statute
1788: The Federalist No. 43

Author: N/A

Publisher: N/A

Year: 1783

Location: Connecticut

Language: English

Source: The University of Texas School of Law Library Tarlton Law Library, KFC 3630 1784 A2132: Acts and laws of the State of Connecticut in America, New London, Connecticut: T. Green, printer to the Governor and Company of the State of Connecticut, 1784, 133.

Persons referred to:
N/A

Places referred to:
Connecticut

Cases referred to:
N/A

Institutions referred to:
Connecticut General Assembly
Connecticut Supreme Court

Legislation:
Connecticut Copyright Statute 1783

Keywords:
books, protected subject matter
duration
incentives
learning, the advancement of
lobbying
maps, protected subject matter
natural rights
penalties, paid to author(s)
registration
states, US
utility

Responsible editor: Oren Bracha


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