What Do Bonanza, Charles Dickens And Copyright Laws Have In Common?

In an episode of the TV show from 1963, Dickens came visited Virginia City and discovered his copyrights were being violated. So he protested and complained. Click here to go to the IMDB page for this episode. Click here to watch it on You Tube. Here is the summary from IMDB

"At Ben's invitation, Charles Dickens comes to Virginia City to give a reading from "Oliver Twist" while on a reading / lecture tour in America. While there, he stays at the Ponderosa. He becomes enraged by the townsfolk's casual attitude toward distribution of copies of his stories published without protection of copyright laws. After confronting the local newspaper publisher, the newspaper's office is destroyed. Already having lost the esteem of the townsfolk, Dickens now finds that the townsfolk blame him for the violence."

Here are some links with historical information:

Struggles For Copyright Laws

When Charles Dickens fell out with America (from BBC)

Bootlegging Dickens: Author Looks At 'Bookaneers' (from NPR)