N.P Willis’s advocacy for international copyright using “The Corsair.”

Here at 17 Court St. you can see a placard detailing the site's significance to Boston, particularly Ben Franklin's apprenticeship in his brother's print shop, yet the site also possesses ties to piracy in publishing. Nathaniel Parker Willis was born in 1806 and later worked in the printing office of James Franklin, the brother of Ben Franklin. During his time working at 17 Court St in Boston, he published a magazine called The Corsair, originally called The Pirate, focusing on fashion and fops (A fop was a man foolishly concerned with his appearance and clothes). Although not noted on the placard, Nathaniel Willis should also be remembered for his work in fighting against literary piracy and the fight for international copyright. Nathaniel Willis “felt very bitterly about the absence of international copyright,” which led to literary piracy.[1] During Willis’s time in Boston, The Corsair became a popular newspaper, particularly for its piratical title and inclusion of pirate stories.

The Corsair featured heavily during another author's description of the fight for American copyright. International copyright was nonexistent in the mid 19th century. Literary scholar Meredith McGill argued that “American reluctance to support the passage of an international copyright law was a regrettable instance of the tyranny of the majority, a fear of publicly criticizing the status quo that reduced even thoughtful literary gentlemen to guilty silence.”[2] Stealing intellectual property came to be considered a form of piracy and “history suggests that a radical reconfiguration of what we now call intellectual property may be approaching, driven on by antipiracy measures much as the piracy itself.”[3] Nathaniel Willis worked hard during the time he wrote The Corsair to fight for American copyright laws. Although literacy piracy may not seem like the common use for word "pirates", piracy means the unauthorized use or reproduction of another's work. Willis thought that “no property, however personal, however rich in sentimental value, should be exempt from circulation,” and this particular focus started Willis’s fight against literary piracy.[4]

The current site in Boston would benefit from a larger placard with more information to commemorate Nathaniel Willis's fight against intellectual piracy, which is still relevant in today’s society. Ironically, Willis's work sometimes came under fire for violating copyright, which made his fight to international copyright seem ironic. Nathaniel in his writing made unattributed references to other literary works and incorporated the work of other authors without giving them credit, thus doing the opposite of what he advocated.[5] The intellectual property of the people has always been contested. For example, “When a biotechnology company employs officers who turn agents provocateurs in order to catch unwary farmers in the act of ‘seed piracy’.”2 Current fights over intellectual property show how hard it is to determine where to draw the line. Nathaniel Willis brought the fight for intellectual piracy from London to America through his work with The Corsair. Willis continued with many writings after The Corsair which led him to be somewhat of a literary star. He published Edgar Allan Poe and other writers of significance. The Corsair started of much of Willis’s writing success because after his first works be continued to become a notable writer traveling all over the world to places like London and Ireland. His success as a writer and ties to literary piracy should be recognized on this site.

— Caitlyn Bucci

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[1] Henry A. Beers, Nathaniel Parker Willis (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Co., 1890), 10. Internet Archive, archive.org/details/nathanielparkerw00beeruoft/page/n10.
[2] Meredith McGill, American Literature and the Culture of Reprinting, 1834-1853 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003) Jstor, https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt4cghh7.9.
[3] Adrian Johns, Piracy: The Intellectual Property Wars from Gutenberg to Gates (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010) Goodreads, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6990457-piracy.
[4] Sandra Tomc, “An Idle Industry: Nathaniel Parker Willis and the Workings of Literary Leisure.” American Quarterly, vol. 49, no. 4, 1997, 780–805. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/30041811.
[5] “N. P. Willis: The Corsair [Volume 5, Issue 10, Oct 1839; Pp. 694-696].” N. P. Willis: The Corsair, Making of America Journal Articles, Oct. 1839, quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moajrnl/acf2679.0005.010/704:20?rgn=main%3Aview.

Pictured: The Corsair, volume 1, issue 1. A New York packet ship arriving in England, colored lithograph, 1834. This is the kind of ship that would have transported literary materials back to New York to be published in The Corsair. Nathaniel Parker Willis (c. mid-1850s).

**To go to Boston Gaol (Site 9), head west on Court St. toward Court Square. Cross Court St. and the destination will be on the right.**