Martin Buinicki examines how debates over copyright law in the United States, particularly over the lack of an international copyright law, during the nineteenth century intersected with the business practices and political and artistic beliefs of American authors. He argues that the act of taking out a copyright was more than a mere legal mechanism marking a transition from amateur to professional or artist to businessperson. Taking out a copyright had a profound impact on how audiences viewed authors, how authors perceived their profession, and how they represented individual rights and...