Editing Copyright (section)

=== Continental law ===
In many jurisdictions of the European continent, comparable legal concepts to copyright did exist from the 16th century on but did change under Napoleonic rule into another legal concept: ''[[authors' rights]]'' or ''creator's right'' laws, from French: ''droits d'auteur'' and German ''[[Copyright law of Germany|Urheberrecht]]''.<ref>In French civic law the ''droit d'auteur'' is part of the ''[https://www.economie.gouv.fr/apie/propriete-intellectuelle-publications/droit-auteur-image-numerique-1 Code de la propriété intellectuelle]''</ref><ref>The Italian state of Venetia, adopting Napoleon's law, calls it "diritto d’autore" as part of the "proprietà intellettuale": "''la più preziosa e la più sacra delle proprietà''" - see: {{Cite web |title=Governare istruzione e stampa. Le riforme Napoleoniche |url=https://123dok.org/article/governare-istruzione-e-stampa-le-riforme-napoleoniche.q05p4vnx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231214185743/https://123dok.org/article/governare-istruzione-e-stampa-le-riforme-napoleoniche.q05p4vnx |archive-date=14 December 2023 |website=123dok}}</ref> In many modern-day publications the terms copyright and authors' rights are being mixed, or used as translations, but in a juridical sense the legal concepts do essentially differ.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |author1= Philipp Otto Aktualisierung |author2=Valie Djordjevic Sebastian Deterding |date=15 July 2013 |title=Urheberrecht und Copyright |url=https://www.bpb.de/themen/digitalisierung/urheberrecht/169971/urheberrecht-und-copyright/ |access-date=11 December 2023 |website=bpb.de |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dommerink |first=Egbert |date=2004 |title=Lessen uit de geschiedenis van het auteursrecht |url=https://www.ivir.nl/publicaties/download/lessen.PDF |journal=University of Amsterdam, Institute for Information Law / Publications |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230803203521/https://www.ivir.nl/publicaties/download/lessen.PDF |archive-date= 3 August 2023 }}</ref> Authors' rights are, generally speaking, from the start absolute property rights of an author of original work that one does not have to apply for. The law is automatically connecting an original work as intellectual property to its creator.<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 July 2015 |title=Le droit d'auteur |url=https://www.inpi.fr/comprendre-la-propriete-intellectuelle/les-autres-modes-de-protection/le-droit-dauteur |access-date=11 December 2023 |website=INPI.fr |language=fr}}</ref> Although the concepts throughout the years have been mingled globally, due to international treaties and contracts, distinct differences between jurisdictions continue to exist.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |date=18 November 2023 |title=Copyright {{!}} Definition, Examples, & Facts |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/copyright |access-date=11 December 2023 |website=Britannica  |language=en}}</ref>

Creator's law was enacted rather late in [[Copyright law of Germany|German speaking states]] and the economic historian Eckhard Höffner argues that the absence of possibilities to maintain copyright laws in all these states in the early 19th century, encouraged the publishing of low-priced paperbacks for the masses. This was profitable for authors and led to a proliferation of books, enhanced knowledge, and was ultimately an important factor in the ascendency of Germany as a power during that century.<ref name="thad">{{Cite magazine |author=Frank Thadeusz |date=18 August 2010 |title=No Copyright Law: The Real Reason for Germany's Industrial Expansion? |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,710976,00.html |magazine=[[Der Spiegel]] |access-date=11 April 2015 |quote=Sigismund Hermbstädt, for example, a chemistry and pharmacy professor in Berlin, who has long since disappeared into the oblivion of history, earned more royalties for his "Principles of Leather Tanning" published in 1806 than British author Mary Shelley did for her horror novel "Frankenstein," which is still famous today. }}</ref> After the introduction of creator's rights, German publishers started to follow English customs, in issuing only expensive book editions for wealthy customers.<ref>Famous writer [[Heinrich Heine]] for example, asked his publisher in 1854: "Due to the tremendously high prices you have established, I will hardly see a second edition of the book anytime soon. But you must set lower prices, dear Campe, for otherwise I really don't see why I was so lenient with my material interests."</ref>

Empirical evidence derived from the exogenous differential introduction of author's right (Italian: ''diritto d’autore'') in Napoleonic Italy shows that "basic copyrights increased both the number and the quality of operas, measured by their popularity and durability".<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Giorcelli |first1=Michela |last2=Moser |first2=Petra |date=March 2020 |url=https://www.nber.org/papers/w26885 <!-- doi is PDF --> |title=Copyright and Creativity. Evidence from Italian Opera During the Napoleonic Age |doi=10.3386/w26885 |doi-access=free |journal=National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series}}</ref>