The Father of American Copyright Law

Today is the birthday of the man many have called the “Father of American copyright law,” Noah Webster. Born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1758, Webster was a political activist, a newspaper editor, a founder of Amherst College, and an early antislavery advocate.

But it was his work as a teacher and an education reformer that earned him his unique sobriquet, eventually resulting in the ratification of the U.S Constitution which included a clause granting Congress the power to enact federal copyright law.