Z:gnu-www-ja-why-free--2b3728-The copyright system grew up w/en

The copyright system grew up with printing&mdash;a technology for mass-production copying. Copyright fit in well with this technology because it restricted only the mass producers of copies. It did not take freedom away from readers of books. An ordinary reader, who did not own a printing press, could copy books only with pen and ink, and few readers were sued for that.