The goal of this essay has been to provide a broader context for the postmodern phenomenon of appropriation by tracing the role of the copy from its origins in academic artistic education to the present, providing a framework for understanding how art history, criticism, theory, and practice have documented changes in the understanding of the role of the copy as it evolved from a technique designed to educate academically trained artists to a conceptual and potentially activist intervention. Individual artists and curators alike continue to view copying as method to pay homage to the past or as a tool for postcolonial critique. One can see from the scope of this essay that there is a wealth of information, both practical and theoretical, to be explored and contributions that continue to be made to this subject.