At least with regards to copyright, it is pretty well known that Noah Webster was lobbying powerfully for it [1]. The quote you have from Madison no doubt refl

At least with regards to copyright, it is pretty well known that Noah Webster was lobbying powerfully for it [1]. The quote you have from Madison no doubt reflects his real opnion, and well the established view in Britain. But the reason he needed to write it in his letters was that he had to argue against the opposite view among other founders. You can guess which side Webster supported. And this is the kind of thing I mean about it being a "well-known public justification". [1]: http://www.thejanuarist.com/noah-webster-father-of-the-american-copyright-system/ http://www.thejanuarist.com/noah-webster-father-of-the-ameri...