I'm sure Shakespeare could have found a way to write his plays if the source material he used had been unavailable/protected. I think the point is that Shakespe

I'm sure Shakespeare could have found a way to write his plays if the source material he used had been unavailable/protected. I think the point is that Shakespeare had an effective pay wall which guaranteed he'd be rewarded for his work (there was still piracy, human recorders in the audience, but it was manageable). Later copyright protected markets created 'virtual paywalls' and much more creativity ensued. The web has greatly reduced the effectiveness of all these paywalls, thus someone like Shakespeare might not even bother to create in the first place. Also, having exclusive performance rights is very important too. Otherwise the only hope of commission is for the chance to debut/premier a work (after which, it's anyone's game).