RE: More ethics... (long, of course)

[Jim Shaeffer <jims -at- spsi -dot- com>]

For some perspective, I went to Google and searched 
on "history of copyright". 

1. Copyright law, in something like the form we have 
today, did not come into existence until 1709 - 1710. 
2. Copyright was not an issue prior to the printing press. 
It was just too hard to make copies. 

The following is from http://www.jps.net/dcm/copyright/
(Note that copyright is seen as being in society's 
interest, not the author's, not the publisher's.) 
-------------------------------------------
[Without copyright protection] anyone foolish 
enough to print a new work would, if the work were 
successful, be immediately undercut on the market, 
suddenly no publisher was willing to print new works,
and there was no market for new ideas.

The Copyright Act [1709] served to create a market,
but it was not designed to protect the publisher 
or author, but rather society's interest in new ideas.
--------------------------------------------

An interesting, and quick, summation of the history (from 
a UK perspective) is to be found at: 
http://www.platopress.co.uk/copyright/start.htm

Jim Shaeffer (jims -at- spsi -dot- com)

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