Editing Copyright (section)

=== Background ===
The concept of copyright developed after the [[printing press]] came into use in Europe<ref name=histpersp/> in the 15th and 16th centuries.<ref>Joanna Kostylo, "From Gunpowder to Print: The Common Origins of Copyright and Patent", in Ronan Deazley et al., ''Privilege and Property: Essays on the History of Copyright'' (Cambridge: Open Book, 2010), 21-50; online at books.openedition.org/obp/1062</ref> It was associated with a common law and rooted in the civil law system.{{Sfn|Goldstein|Hugenholtz|2019|p=3}} The printing press made it much cheaper to produce works, but as there was initially no copyright law, anyone could buy or rent a press and print any text. 

Popular new works were immediately re-[[Typesetting|set]] and re-published by competitors, so printers needed a constant stream of new material. Fees paid to authors for new works were high and significantly supplemented the incomes of many academics.<ref name="reason">{{cite news |last1=Thadeusz |first1=Frank |date=18 August 2010 |title=No Copyright Law: The Real Reason for Germany's Industrial Expansion? |url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/no-copyright-law-the-real-reason-for-germany-s-industrial-expansion-a-710976.html |work=Spiegel Online}}</ref>

Printing brought [[print culture|profound social changes]]. The rise in [[literacy]] across [[Europe]] led to a dramatic increase in the [[demand]] for reading matter.<ref name="histpersp">''Copyright in Historical Perspective'', p. 136-137, Patterson, 1968, Vanderbilt Univ. Press</ref> Prices of reprints were low, so publications could be bought by poorer people, creating a mass audience.<ref name="reason" /> In German-language markets before the advent of copyright, technical materials, like popular fiction, were inexpensive and widely available; it has been suggested this contributed to Germany's industrial and economic success.<ref name="reason" />