Top of page

A Grand Entry: Entered According to Act of Congress

Share this post:

The House of Representatives, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. Lithograph by E. Sachse & Co., 1866. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/98507527/.
The House of Representatives, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. Lithograph by E. Sachse & Co., 1866. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/98507527/.

“Entered according to the act of Congress” sounds like a grand entry, indeed, and it’s a phrase we are often asked about because it appears near the bottom of many pictures. But what does it mean?

Starting in 1802, that phrase was required by U.S. Copyright law to be on works for which a rights holder wanted copyright protection. It appears on many historical prints, product labels, and other pictorial items in our collections–and on similar items that people find among their family keepsakes and while hunting antiques.

The phrase simply means that the rights holder was claiming copyright to the work so that others could not make or distribute unauthorized copies. At the time, establishing their copyright involved submitting a registration giving basic information (e.g., the title of the work and contact information for the rights holder), paying a fee, and, generally, sending in two copies of the work being copyrighted.

How did the Library of Congress get involved? Up until 1870, copyright registration was administered by the Clerks of the U.S. District Courts, and works were required to carry the printed legend, “Entered according to the act of Congress, in the year __, by __, in the clerk’s office of the district court of ___ .”

 

The base ball collar. Lithograph, copyrighted 1869 by Stiefel & Co. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.17529
The base ball collar. Lithograph, copyrighted 1869 by Stiefel & Co. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.17529. The legend around the picture says, “Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1869 by Stiefel & Co. in the Clerks Office of the District Court of the U.S. for the Southern District of New York.”

But starting in 1870, the copyright registration and deposit system became centralized in the Library of Congress, and the copyright phrase became: “Entered according to act of Congress, in the year __, by __, in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.” (Starting in June of 1874, rights holders could shorten the phrase to the word “Copyright” and the year the copyright was entered, and the stipulations have continued to change in subsequent revisions to copyright law.)

Just moved. Chromolithograph by A. & C. Kaufmann, copyirighted 1873.  http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pga.01730
Just moved. Chromolithograph by A. & C. Kaufmann, copyirighted 1873.
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pga.01730

Detail from chromolithograph, Just moved, showing the copyright statement "Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1873, by A. & C. Kaufmann in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D.C."
Detail from chromolithograph at left showing the copyright statement “Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1873, by A. & C. Kaufmann in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D.C.”

During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a vast array of items, including books, music, and pictures of all types arrived at the Library of Congress as copyright deposits. Staff selected items from those copyright deposits to become part of the Library of Congress collections. Although the Prints and Photographs Division doesn’t hold every work that was copyrighted, a wonderful variety of historical prints used for advertising, classroom instruction, and home decoration, as well as various types of photographs and other pictorial items have become available to researchers thanks to copyright deposit.

Historical Prints reference aid (page 1)
Historical Prints reference aid (page 1)

People who own pictures bearing the copyright notice sometimes write to us, hoping we can give them a sense of the rarity or value of their piece. Because of the number of questions we get asked about historical prints, we have an entire reference aid devoted to them that gives background information, a bibliography of sources to learn more about historical prints and publishers, and referrals for obtaining evaluations and appraisals. Generally, however, we don’t have much information about a specific print or photograph beyond what it says on the piece.

Information about the rarity of a particular art work is hard to come by. The copyright record does not include the number of copies the rights holder made of a particular print or photograph, nor do we have a ready way of determining how many copies were distributed and how many survive. Especially with lithographic prints produced in the nineteenth century, commercial publishers often printed them in large quantities. And, judging from the number of people who report owning them, many are still in existence.

Value often boils down to how much someone is willing to pay for an item–definitely subject to the vagaries of fashion, personal taste, and what else is on the market at the same time. Library of Congress staff cannot offer appraisals of the authenticity or value of a work. We can point people to sources for auction information to get a sense of the market, and we furnish information on finding professional appraisers.

As Martha Kennedy, Curator of Popular and Applied Graphic Arts, points out, the greatest value historical prints have to offer may be in the information and pleasure we derive from them: “Prints bearing the copyright legend may not, strictly speaking, be rare nor have monetary value high enough to offset the cost of appraisal, but they are valuable to students of history because they can yield interesting and significant insights into the aesthetic taste and social and cultural aspects of life during the times in which they were produced.”

The Fifteenth Amendment. Celebrated May 19th, 1870. Lithograph published by Thomas Kelly, copyrighted 1871. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pga.01767
The Fifteenth Amendment. Celebrated May 19th, 1870. Lithograph published by Thomas Kelly, copyrighted 1871. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pga.01767. The legend at the bottom center says: “Entered accord. to Act of Congress in the year 1871 by Thomas Kelly in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.”

Learn More:

Comments (7)

  1. Have print of Independence Hall Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1899 by M. F. Tobin in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington D.C. There are signatures of John Hancock. John Adams Ben Franklin &many others looking for Information of picture

    • We’ve added your question to our Ask a Librarian queue; a staff member will respond directly to you. (For information about our Ask a Librarian service, see: http://www.loc.gov/rr/askalib/ask-print.html ). Glad we caught your interest!

  2. I have a book that says “Entered according to Act of Congress in year 1870”. Does this mean the book dates back to 1870? Its not valuable to no one but me but I just noticed this and wondered if my little keepsake was 149 years old.

  3. I’ve found a piece in Japan
    With the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington D.C. stamp 1877 M. Knoedler & Co
    GRAND REPRESENTATION
    Peint par RUDAUX
    Lithograph par DESMAISONS
    A lady standing at what looks like a pantomime or puppet box putting on a show for children and a lady sitting in a chair.

    can you help with information on the lithograph?

  4. This is nice to know?

  5. Were the pre-1870 district court copyright filings transferred to LOC?

  6. I have a print of the signers of the Declaration of Independence with a sketch of Independence Hall at the top of the print, and signatures below the skethch.
    How would i find out if this print is worth anything?

Add a Comment

This blog is governed by the general rules of respectful civil discourse. You are fully responsible for everything that you post. The content of all comments is released into the public domain unless clearly stated otherwise. The Library of Congress does not control the content posted. Nevertheless, the Library of Congress may monitor any user-generated content as it chooses and reserves the right to remove content for any reason whatever, without consent. Gratuitous links to sites are viewed as spam and may result in removed comments. We further reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to remove a user's privilege to post content on the Library site. Read our Comment and Posting Policy.


Required fields are indicated with an * asterisk.