Copyright Act of 1909

Copyright Act of 1909
Long title	An Act to Amend and Consolidate the Acts Representing Copyright
Enacted by	the 60th United States Congress
Effective	July 1, 1909
Citations
Public law	Pub. L. 60–349
Statutes at Large	35 Stat. 1075
Codification
Acts repealed	Copyright Act of 1870
Legislative history
	Introduced in the House of Representatives as H.R. 28192 by Frank Currier (R–NH) on February 15, 1909; Committee consideration by Committee on Patents; Signed into law by President Theodore Roosevelt on March 4, 1909;
Major amendments
	1912, 1914, 1941, repealed by the Copyright Act of 1976
United States Supreme Court cases
	Herbert v. Shanley Co.; F. W. Woolworth Co. v. Contemporary Arts, Inc.; Mazer v. Stein; Williams & Wilkins Co. v. United States;

The Copyright Act of 1909 (Pub. L. 60–349, 35 Stat. 1075, enacted March 4, 1909) was a landmark statute in United States copyright law. It went into effect on July 1, 1909. The 1909 Act was repealed and superseded by the Copyright Act of 1976, which went into effect on January 1, 1978; but some of 1909 Act's provisions continue to apply to copyrighted works created before 1978. Significantly, the Act would also demonstrate the first example of a compulsory license in US copyright law. This mechanical license procedure was created in response to case law on piano rolls, but it would also apply to phonograph records, and would become generalized to cover versions.