Quote:
Originally Posted by HansTWN
Making up our own rules as we go, to illustrate your point?
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No, answering your question of where I get this from. I can call a cat a dog, but that doesn't make it a dog.
The term copyright has been used in two different ways. The first is a legal monopoly on the right to publish written material. This was used in an attempt to control the flow of thoughts and ideas, i.e. censorship, as well as a method of generating revenue and was historically fairly common. For example, in 1469 the Venetian Senate gave a German printer the sole rights to print the letters of Cicero and Pliny. It had nothing to do with an author's rights to control the publication of his writings, though sometimes there were specific grantings to specific authors for specific works they wrote. In England, in 1556, printing was reserved to members of the Stationeer's Company which was founded under Royal Charter.
The other usage is the modern usage of giving authors the right to control the publication of their work. The first known copyright law of this sort was the Statute of Anne in 1709, which was titled "An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by vesting the Copies of Printed Books in the Authors or purchasers of such Copies, during the Times therein mentioned".