International Copyright Act of 1891

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The International 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 referred 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 51st Congress.

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