An incredible highlight from our Exploration and Travel Literature, Featuring Americana taking place on 25 October in New York, is this signed copy of America's first federal copyright law.

Although the notion of copyright law was written into the Constitution, this 1790 law "for the encouragement of learning" created the legal framework for its implementation. The law has changed many times in order to accommodate changing realities and technological advances; however, this 1790 law is the foundation for modern discussion of intellectual property brought on by the invention of the internet. Here, we take a closer look at this significant piece of history and its lasting impact into the digital era.

The 1790 Act

President George Washington signed the first American copyright law, An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, into existence on May 31, 1790, securing for authors and producers the "sole right and liberty of printing, reprinting, publishing and vending" copies of their "maps, charts, and books" for 14 years. In 1783, a committee of the Continental Congress had avowed that “nothing is more properly a man's own than the fruit of his study, and ... the protection and security of literary property would greatly tend to encourage genius, [and] to promote useful discoveries,” and in 1787 the framers of the American Constitution in 1787 specifically built in the mechanism to protect an author’s creative output, the “Copyright Clause.”

This Act, signed in type by Washington and in ink by Thomas Jefferson at end, with annotation "True Copy," has created the intellectual and legal framework to support 230 years of innovation, creativity and progress.

Copyright In The Digital Age

While the 1790 Act gave us the framework, the law has changed and grown drastically over the years, both in terms of what creative output is covered and the longevity of that protection. The ability of the law to change and accommodate new technologies over the years is a testament to the strength and elasticity of American democracy. Today, the protection accorded creators extends for 70 years beyond their death, and covered creations include not only literary works and scientific works, but music, software programs, architecture, art and illustration, fashion and jewellery, photography, movies, TV, animation, video games, computer software, databases, blogs and websites.

Many of the greatest challenges to the concept of copyright have arisen in the last 50 years, with the advent of easily manipulated digital content and sharing. The law continues to change and be interpreted in view of the needs of the 21st-century. It was only 2021 when the first United States software copyright infringement case reached the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc, involving fair use of proprietary software code.

We are currently offering in our History of Science and Technology auction, also taking place on 25 October in New York, many of the developments that have stretched the laws ability to handle the march of progress, including the first iteration of the Apple II, a Macintosh SE from Steve Jobs’ office and used by him at NeXT, and a fascinating array of early programming documents from the creators of the ENIAC, at the birth of modern computing. 

This original Federal 1790 law is the foundation for modern discussion of intellectual property brought on by the invention of the internet. An incredible rarity, we trace no copy at auction in the 20th or 21st century, and there are only three known institutional copies.

Register to bid in our Exploration and Travel Literature, Featuring Americana and History of Science and Technology, including Space History auctions before 25 October.