We’re gonna copy like it’s 1897

Music piracy has been with us for a long time, and it flourished in the golden age of sheet music. This I knew, but I still assumed that this article, from a 111-year-old edition of the New York Times, had to be an Onion-style parody—the parallels to current anti-piracy litigation (including the role of international borders and the culpability of referral services) seemed too close to the current situation. But no, there it sits in the archive, coupled charmingly with a story about a snake in a park—a reminder that those were far pulpier days for the young NYT. from “Music Pirates in Canada,” The New York Times, 13 June 1897 :: via Boing Boing