International Copyright Act

The Internation Copyright Act is the first U.S. congressional act that extended limited protection to foreign copyright holders from select nations.

Formally known as the "International Copyright Act of 1891", but more commonly refered to as the "Chace Act" after Sen. Jonathan Chace of Rhode Island. The act was passed on March 3, 1891 (26 Stat. 1106) by the the 51st Congress.

The Act went into effect on July 1, 1891. On July 3, 1891, the first foreign work was registered under the act. The work was a play called Saints and Sinners, by British author Henry Arthur Jones.

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Pirate Nation