Colonial copyright law, as discussed in Chapter 1, was largely inspired by the Statute of Anne, and once independent from England, most of the colonies passed their own protective schemes. With the Constitution, however, the power to protect authors and their works was placed in federal hands, and a “comprehensive” copyright act was passed in 1790. (Copyright Act of 1790, 1 Stat. 124). The 1790 Act is interesting for historical reasons only, and was repeatedly revised in the 1800s. Some of these revisions reflected changes in the idea of copyright (e.g., the 1831 change which added musical compositions to the protected list), while others reflected changes in technology as well as ideology (e.g., the 1865 addition of photographs). Also, in 1831 the initial term of fourteen years’ protection (a descendant of the Statute of Anne) was extended to 28 years, with a potential 14 year renewal.