Nonetheless, in the United States, only works published in the United States could be restricted with copyright. Authors including Mark Twain, Louisa May Alcott, Edward Eggleston, and Bill Nye wrote letters in the mid-1880s to the "Century" requesting international copyright. These letters to the journals had a strong effect on this issue, as did the American Copyright League that was formed in 1883. The League was a great supporter of an International Copyright Act and, at the Madison Square Theater in 1885, the League sponsored readings by American authors in aid of the League's cause.