[digi_owl]

And that was the case when it was put in place.

When copyright first came to be, it was a negotiating leverage between the singular author and the owners of printing presses (very mechanical and labor intensive to operate, and therefore it was rarely done without sales in mind) for a share of the profits.

Without it, it was not uncommon for a printer to buy a text for pennies and then resell copies for pounds.

Then again, it also introduced the title page holding the name of author and printer. Thus the government had names to lean on if the content was not acceptable...