Quote:
Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward
Shakespeare didn't have copyright supporting him. Nor did Cervantes.
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Cervantes did, sort of.
He published his works with a "royal privilege", whereby he alone (or the publisher by him designated) had the right to print and sell them for a 10 year period. The text of this privilege is included in the versions I've uploaded here. I don't think he had any special treatment, it was probably the standard practice in printing and publishing at the time.
The privilege didn't cover derived works, though, and an apocryphal 2nd part of Don Quixote was published by Avellaneda, which pushed Cervantes to publish his own 2nd part and kill Don Quixote at the end to prevent further adventures of his character
