what was the first copyright law in the us
Home | E-mail | Quotations The Statute of Anne, 1710 (1/6) (transcription below image) This is the first copyright act in the world, the British Statute of Anne, from 1710. This facsimile is taken from British Library, 8 Anne c. 19. Several monographs on copyright date this text to 1709. However, 1710 is the correct date, see John Feather, The Book Trade in Politics: The Making of the Copyright Act of 1710, Publishing History, 19(8), 1980, p. 39 (note 3). Transcription from fraktur is available below the image.