Emoji history of US copyright

04 May 2015

The number of kinds of works covered by copyright has increased a lot over the years. The first copyright act, in 1790, covered just books, maps, and charts. Subsequent laws have added things like music, photos, and film. For a real history you can check the Copyright Office circular, but here’s an emoji timeline.

1790: 📚🌎📈
1802: 🐾
1831: 🎼🎶
1856: 🎭
1865: 📷
1870: 🎨
1897: 🎤
1912: 🎥
1972: 💿
1990: 🏠
1998: 🚤

And a selection of Supreme Court cases:

1903: 🎪
1984: 📼
1991: ☎📚

(By the way, WordPress now supports emoji. Go WordPress!)