Noah
Webster and the First American Copyright Laws
Noah Webster, (1758-1843), who, is best
known for his dictionary, was an early advocate of copyright law. He was known
as “the father of American scholarship” who worked against the idea that
American scholarship was a child of British or European scholarship. His first
job after graduating Yale College was a teacher. He used British textbooks and
he found them full of errors and not appropriate for American students[1].
They were also in short supply. The
dominate textbook for spelling and grammar was written by Thomas
Dilsworth, A New Guide to the English Tongue, published in
London in 1740. Spelling was fluid in those days. There was no American spelling reform yet.
In 1782 while
the Revolutionary War was still over a year from ending, Webster was teaching
school in Goshen, New York. American printers
copied Dilsworth’s books without payment of royalties making, the consumer price
was much lower than the cost in England. However, because of the difficulties with
Dilsworth’s books, Webster decided to write his own textbook. Webster wanted
the protection of copyright both for financial reasons and protection of his intellectual property. The British copyright[2]
law, known as the Statute of Anne, was not the law in America. Copyright
legislation is a compromise between the author/creator’s financial and intellectual
property rights with the public’s need or desire to have entertainment and
edification. Webster’s lobbying for copyright laws was both for the rights of
all authors to their intellectual property and for the public to benefit from
the creator’s creativity and expertise. Webster was also a businessman and wanted
to make a living from sales of his books and articles.
By the time the
British colonies became the United States, every state had printing presses that
printed newspapers, books, pamphlets, broadsides, etc. These presses played important
roles in the dissemination of revolutionary ideas. For example, Thomas Paine wrote the pamphlet, Common
Sense. It eventually sold either 150,000 or 500,000.[3]
This short pamphlet was an important
document in swaying people’s opinion to the revolutionary cause.
Webster’s
version of how he worked to pass copyright laws in 12 of the 13 colonies is
told in chapter 7 of, A Collection of Papers on political, Literary, and
Moral Subjects.
The first state
he convinced was his home state of Connecticut, which passed a copyright law in
January 1783. Webster was the editor of
a periodical, American magazine, in which he campaigned for copyright
legislation.[4] He emphasized that people have the
right to fruits of their labor and thought.
A
man who has devoted a most valuable period of his life to the acquisition of
knowledge … is indubitably entitled to the exclusive advantages resulting from his
exertions and expenses. [5]
Printing British
and other foreign material was a common practice until the international
copyright agreements of the late 19th century. It was not only
within the law, but there was no common law or moral law against the practice.
Printing was primarily a local trade. Distribution
channels were limited and prices for the products were low. Markets and content
were largely unregulated. In Europe the early copyright protection was a license. In exchange for a limited monopoly, cities or
states granted a license to a publisher or printer to print and sell their
product. This was also the way other products
were sold. The government used this as
both a source of revenue and as a way to control the published ideas. The Americans were aware of this censorship
and were very wary of any government intervention.
In January 1783
Connecticut passed the first American copyright law.[6]
The preamble to the law states that authors should receive profits from the sale
of their works to encourage learning and genius. The term was 14 years with an
option to renew the copyright by the author or his heirs for another 14 years. The
Secretary of State’s office administered the copyright registration. The law
covered only the State of Connecticut. Note—This
law was not repealed until October 1812, well after the Constitution gave the
federal government the sole authority to copyright law.
The Massachusetts
copyright law was enacted on March 17, 1783. The preamble said the same ideas
as Connecticut in different words. The term of copyright was 21 years. The
authors were supposed to deposit two copies of their work with the “University
of Cambridge.” I assume they meant Harvard University as it was the only university
in Cambridge at the time.
All of states’
laws had similar preambles, but the terms varied from 14 years renewable for a
second 14 term to 21 years with no renewal.
All the laws said that they were only effective in their state and for
US citizens and residents only if their home state had similar laws. Most
mentioned that one had to be a citizen or resident to apply for copyright. South Carolina’s law said that nothing in the statute
restricted the importation and sale of any book in a foreign language. North
Carolina did limit the importation and sale of books and pamphlets from any
other state, kingdom or commonwealth without the author’s permission. Most states had no provision for international
copyright protection. Foreigners could not even apply for copyright. North Carolina’s law explicitly states the law
doesn’t cover any book printed in another country. The law permits piracy when
the books come from abroad.[7]
On May 2, 1783
the Continental Congress passed a resolution to recommend the states enact legislation
for copy right. The period was “not less than 14 years and renewable for
another 14 years.[8] The Continental Congress had no authority to
create a national copyright law.
|
State
|
date of law
|
term
|
renew term
|
deposit copies
|
agency
|
must be US res
|
|
Connecticut
|
01/1783
|
14
|
14
|
|
Sec of State
|
yes
|
|
Massachusetts
|
03/1783
|
21
|
|
2
|
Un of Cambridge
|
yes
|
|
Maryland
|
04/1783
|
14
|
14
|
|
no
|
|
|
New Jersey
|
5/1783
|
14
|
14
|
|
Sec of State
|
no
|
|
New Hamp
|
11/1783
|
21
|
|
|
|
yes
|
|
Rhode Island
|
12/1783
|
21
|
|
|
|
yes
|
|
Pennsylvania
|
3/1784
|
14
|
14
|
|
|
no
|
|
South Carolina
|
3/1784
|
14
|
14
|
|
Sec of State
|
yes
|
|
Virginia
|
10/1785
|
21
|
|
|
clerk of council
|
no
|
|
North Carolina
|
11/1785
|
14
|
|
1
|
Sec of State
|
yes
|
|
Georgia
|
2/1786
|
14
|
14
|
|
Sec of State
|
yes
|
|
New York
|
4/1786
|
14
|
14
|
|
|
no
|
|
Deleware
|
no law
|
|
|
|
|
|
The campaign for
copyright law was struggle between the authors, printers and the consumers. It was struggle for the authors to spread
their message and develop an American intellect. Between 1783 and 1786 12 of the 13 states passed
copyright laws. (Delaware was the holdout.)
Copyright law is a still is a balancing act between groups that want control.
The authors want control of their ideas, the publishers and printers want the
economic control so they can earn a return on their investment. They all want freedom of the press so that final
laws are not tools for censorship.
Giving the power of copyright control and processing to the government
is a compromise that authors and business people are willing to cede for the greater
good.
Webster realized
that first federal copyright laws needed revisions. The laws were revised in 1802 and 1819. After
he visited English in 1825, he learned about the British copyright law that
extended some of the author rights. Upon
his return he lobbied Congress to change the US law. The law of February 1831
was result. That law extended protection for 28 years. There was still no protection for works not
printed in the United States.
Below is a
sample registration from 1790. Notice the act’s preamble is quoted at the end
above the signature.
What is the
nature of control? Creators have the
right to enjoy the fruits of their labor.
In Europe grantors of copyright protection used the opportunity for
control of the text i.e. censorship. The
North Carolina law said that the law does not protect “any authors or
publishers of books … which may be dangerous to civil liberty, or to the peace
or morals of society.”[9]
They didn’t recognize freedom of the
press.
A craftsman who
creates objects, sells them to compensate for the time, materials, expertise,
and overhead that was taken to create the object. When a furniture builder is making objects
one at a time, I don’t think he cares if someone copies the design. In the days
before the printing press no one thought of copyright or intellectual property.[10]
When mass production enters the scene intellectual property and protecting the genius
of the writers becomes the way to ensure profits and enable authors a livelihood.
Webster was
successful in his lobbying efforts. When
the first US copyright was enacted in 1790 many of his ideas were included. The
preamble stated, “An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the
copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies…” In 1802 the act was amended to extend protection
was extended to visual arts such as, engravings, designs, etching, and other 2d
art works. Maps and charts were already covered in the 1790 act. In 1831 the
law was further revised[11]. We have much to thank Noah Webster for
including his dictionary, teaching materials and protection of intellectual
property.
Bibliography
Copyright
Enactments : laws passed in the United States since 1783 relating
to copyright. Washington, Copyright Office, Library of Congress, 1973.
Guindon, Alex.“A
Very Short History of Copyright: Adopting the User’s Perspective.” Canadian
Journal of Information & Library Sciences 30 (3/4): pages 153–174, 2006
Kendall,
Joshua. The forgotten founding father. New York: Putnam’s Sons, 2010.
Madison,
James “The Powers Conferred by the
Constitution Further Considered”. New York: New York Packet, January 22, 1788.
Published under pseudonym Publius. Part of the Federalist Papers.
Warfel, Harry R. Noah Webster, schoolmaster
to America. New York, Macmillan, 1936.
[1] I t is hard
for me to determine what is wrong as compared to what is different from today’s
use of English. For example, in the 18th
century some of the letters were printed differently and pronounced than our practice.
For example: ʃhort Leʃʃons = short lessons. Many of the rules of grammar were
more rigidly connected to Latin grammar than our usage. Common nouns
were frequently capitalized.
[2] The spelling “copy
right” (two words) was used in the 18th and 19th
century. I use the spelling of “copy right”
when I am quoting a source and “copyright” when the words are mine.
[3] Paine was a proponent
of the importance of protecting the rights of authors. Sources differ as to how
many copies were sold as some copies were printed and sold without his
permission. Some sources say he
renounced copyright and gave royalties to revolutionary causes. However, no
copyright law existed to renounce. It is unclear as to how much he earned from Common
Sense or if he donated the royalties to the revolutionary causes.
[4] Warfel, Harry R.
Noah Webster, schoolmaster to America. New York, Macmillan, 1936. page 184-185.
[5] ibid. page 184.
[7]
This was a big problem for famous authors such as Mark Twain and Charles Dickens. They fought for international copyright laws.
Today there are some countries who have
not signed international copyright treaties. The copying and reprinting of
works without royalty payment from those countries is unrestricted by statue.
[9] Copyright
enactments pages 16-17.
[10] That is not entirely correct. Even in the Talmud ideas were attributed to
earlier teachers. Attributing ideas to
others is a practice that adds authority to the statements. Ancient teachers were glad that their
students spread the ideas and there is no evidence that control of intellectual
property was a concern.
[11]
Copyright
enactments pages 27-31.
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