>initially, like in the Statute of Anne it was to protect publishers so they could profit from the work How do you reconcile that claim with the opening of the

>initially, like in the Statute of Anne it was to protect publishers so they could profit from the work How do you reconcile that claim with the opening of the Statute of Anne: >Whereas Printers, Booksellers, and other Persons, have of late frequently taken the Liberty of Printing, Reprinting, and Publishing, or causing to be Printed, Reprinted, and Published Books, and other Writings, without the Consent of the Authors or Proprietors of such Books and Writings, to their very great Detriment, and too often to the Ruin of them and their Families... The problem was that publishers would just keep printing and selling, without compensating, or even informing the author. Copyright is a restriction on those who produce the physical artifact. It's probably one reason why those who produce the physical artifacts have been gobbling up copyrights for decades.