Z:gnu-www-ja-copyright-versus-community-2000--2a4bdb-Now the idea of copyright deve/en

Now the idea of copyright developed along with the printing press. I think that there may be&hellip; I think I remember reading that Venice, which was a major centre of printing in the 1500s also had a kind of copyright but I can't find that: I couldn't find that reference again. But the system of copyright fitted in naturally with the printing press because it became rare for ordinary readers to make copies. It still happen. People who were very poor or very rich had handmade copies of books. The very rich people did this to show off their wealth: they had beautiful illuminated wealth to show that they could afford this. And poor people still sometimes copied books by hand because they couldn't afford printed copies. As the song goes &ldquo;Time ain't money when all you got is time.&rdquo;