Copyright is addressed in the Constitution (1787) and codified in the Copyright Act of 1790. Prior to that, there were a few private copyright acts with comparatively short terms.

The first federal copyright act was in 1790; prior to that, all states but Delaware had their own copyright laws.

In 1790, the United States Congress passed the Copyright Act. The act gave inventors and authors exclusive rights to their world for 14 years after its creation.

Deposit of the work in a designated repository has been required since the first US copyright act, in 1790.

In the US, 1790.