Quote:
Originally Posted by Panurge
This is probably a dead issue by now in the conversation, but "piracy" is a word that originally was used to refer to the unauthorized reproduction of books as early as the 18th century. It referred to printers (publishers), especially in Holland, who printed editions of books that could not be regulated because they were outside their countries of origin. The author, of course, was not compensated. Pirating also occurred within the same same country in which the book originated. The most notorious in the first half of the 18th century was Edmund Curll. Sometimes authors could use "pirates" to their advantage. When Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift decided to publish their correspondence but were hesitant to do so because they thought it might seem immodest, they simply "leaked" copies to Curll, who obliging brought out "incorrect copies," thus making it imperative that the authors issue correct editions. So back then, even pirates had their uses.
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Can you provide a source for this? With all due respect, this sounds like something Big Content made up to justify its use of the word. If it's not, then it would be a very interesting historical footnote.