believe it or not, that wasn’t the original purpose of copyright. copyright was invented as a form of censorship. in 1556, the Charter of the Stationers’ Company was given the exclusive right to control the operation of printing presses in England, up to and including the ability to seize offending books and burn the printing presses that made them (L. Ray Patterson, Copyright and “the Exclusive Right” of Authors, p. 9)
!["Copyright fuels creativity [...] promotes free speech", heh](https://sh.itjust.works/pictrs/image/5d18d6da-5d50-4870-b8db-5d271b615c4b.webp){kind=link}
believe it or not, that wasn’t the original purpose of copyright. copyright was invented as a form of censorship. in 1556, the Charter of the Stationers’ Company was given the exclusive right to control the operation of printing presses in England, up to and including the ability to seize offending books and burn the printing presses that made them (L. Ray Patterson, Copyright and “the Exclusive Right” of Authors, p. 9)