In the 21st century, we are all creators and users of content. We take original photos with our smartphones, generate blog posts, digital videos, and podcasts. Some of us write books and articles. And nearly everyone contributes content to social media.

Given all of the information and content we generate and use, it’s really important for us to understand the principles of copyright and fair use, principles that have an early American past.

Kyle Courtney, a lawyer, librarian, and Copyright Advisor for Harvard University, will serve as our guide through the early American origins of copyright and fair use.

About the Show

Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.

It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.

Each episode features a conversation with a historian who helps us shed light on important people and events in early American history.

Ben Franklin’s World is a production of the Omohundro Institute.

Episode Summary

Kyle Courtney, a lawyer, librarian, and Copyright Advisor for Harvard University, will serve as our guide through the early American origins of copyright and fair use.

During our investigation of these principles, Kyle reveals details about the legal concepts and principles of copyright and fair use; Precedents and influences of British American and early United States copyright laws; And, why the founders viewed copyright as important enough to include a provision for it in the United States Constitution.

What You’ll Discover

The legal concepts of copyright and fair use

Copyright in the Constitution of the United States

Why the Constitutional Convention empowered Congress to enact copyright laws

Precedents and influences for American copyright law

Early English legal traditions in copyright

The London Stationers’ Company

The Statute of Anne, 1710

Benefits of copyright protections for the English people

Development of American ideas about copyright in colonial laws

Different early American copyright laws

Copyright and Constitutional ratification

The First Federal Copyright Law of 1790

Origins of national deposit for copyrighted works

Who protected copyrighted work

Penalties for infringing on copyrighted works

The details of Wheaton v. Peters (1834)

Origins of Fair Use

English influences for United States’ fair use doctrine

Gyles v. Wilcox (1741)

Folsom v. Marsh (1837)

How early American ideas about copyright & fair use have influenced present-day law

Links to People, Places, and Publications

Sponsor Links

Complementary Episodes

Time Warp Question

In your opinion, what might have happened if the power to grant copyright protections had not been included in the United States Constitution? How would American history and American legal history be different?

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