Early American law originally depended heavily on British common law and was structured to emulate the practices employed by British law-makers. As America obtained independence from England, this legal influence evolved gradually into a uniquely American legal culture. Copyright law is a useful tool for exploring how this evolution proceeded from its' English roots into its' American iterations. Through a careful study of developments in copyright in England and America in eighteenth and early nineteenth century, this paper contends to examine how a legal system implemented abroad might become culturally distinct.