When Samuel Clemens, better known by his pen name Mark Twain, died in 1910, the New York Times deemed him the greatest humorist and satirist in the English-speaking world. William Faulkner later went beyond that accolade, and called him “the father of American literature.”
There is another lesser known area in which superlatives are due. He was the most fervid and imaginative champion of copyright law this country has ever produced.
In his magisterial biography, Ron Chernow characterizes Twain’s attitude toward copyright law as “militant.” Chernow likes the adjective so much that he uses it three times. And it is proper to do so. For while all writers wish to maximize their copyright protection, none have been as combative as Twain in attempting to stretch the boundaries of that legal doctrine.
For most of his life, his attempts failed. But he never gave up. In the end, he succeeded.
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