Poe vs. Property

A detective story of shifting rationalizations.

Ran Allen/Manuel M.V./Djuradj Vujcic, CC BY 2.0, modified

In 1841, Graham’s Magazine published Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” and, in so doing, created the modern detective story genre.

The story was published at a pivotal moment for copyright: only a decade earlier, Congress passed the Copyright Act of 1831, extending US copyright to foreign authors for…