Editing Johann Heinrich Zedler (section)

===Bid for copyright protection===
[[File:Zedler - Protokoll Verfügung gegen Zedler (letzte Seite).jpg|thumb|left|Last log page of the order against Zedler, rejecting his request for privilege, Leipzig, 12 October 1730.]]

On 13 September 1730 Zedler requested a Saxon printing privilege to protect the lexicon, which was advertised for the 1731 Easter Fair.
These national privileges typically covered a period of five to ten years, and gave the original printer protection against foreign reprints during this time.
The Leipzig Book Commission, which was responsible for granting such privileges, followed the normal process of posting an explanation of the print project and the privilege request for a week in all the bookstores of the city, during which period objections could be filed with the courts.

Both Caspar Fritsch and Johann Gottlieb Gleditsch, son of Johann Friedrich Gleditsch, raised objections.
Fritsch argued that in 1724 his father had gained the Saxon privilege for the ''General Historical Lexicon'' with a ten-year term, and said that the Universal Lexicon would not differ in content from this and other existing lexicons apart from [[Paraphrasing of copyrighted material|paraphrasing]].{{sfn|Kirchhoff|1891|p=198}}
On 16 October 1730, the Upper [[Consistory (Protestantism)|Consistory]] in [[Dresden]] agreed with the arguments of Fritsch and Gleditsch, rejected Zedler's request, and warned that he would be subject to confiscation and a fine of 300 thalers if he reproduced any material from the ''General Historical Lexicon'' in his Universal Lexicon.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zedler_-_Protokoll_Verf%C3%BCgung_gegen_Zedler_(letzte_Seite).jpg?uselang=de
 |title=Order against Zedler, rejecting his request for privilege, Leipzig
 |date=12 October 1730}}</ref>
With this ruling, Zedler lost the first round in his dispute with the competing Leipzig publishers.