4 ms·

It was not the original purpose of copyright law for the government to control the flow of adverse information, and it hasn't had that effect either. That might

by YPPH 4y ago

It was not the original purpose of copyright law for the government to control the flow of adverse information, and it hasn't had that effect either. That might be a basis for laws around treason or sedition, but not copyright. One can disagree with this policy without resorting to a position such as this which is essentially baseless, and which really rises no higher than a conspiracy theory.

0xcde4c3db 4y ago
That's true of modern copyright, but modern copyright originated as a series of reforms to an older copyright regime in which rights attached to publishers that were members of a specific government-sanctioned organization [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worshipful_Company_of_Stationers_and_Newspaper_Makers#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worshipful_Company_of_Statione...
- YPPH 4y ago
  Well, that still falls well short of "control [of] the mass distribution of information [the government] doesn't like".
  - nybble41 4y ago
    Did you happen to read the GP's link? The Stationer's Guild was granted a monopoly on printing so that it could implement the government's censorship: > During the Tudor and Stuart periods, the Stationers were legally empowered to seize "offending books" that violated the standards of content set down by the Church and state; its officers could bring "offenders" before ecclesiastical authorities, usually the Bishop of London or the Archbishop of Canterbury, depending on the severity of the transgression. As printing replaced hand-copying, enforcement of "authorized" printing (as in printing only what the government approves) came to include the "copy right", a rule devised by the Stationer's Guild wherein only certain printers were granted the privilege of printing certain books. Anyone who was not a guild member, or who didn't accept the government's censorship, would not be granted the "copy right" and would be punished for attempting to print or distribute the unauthorized books. This is where copyright originated, as an outgrowth of monopoly privileges designed for the purpose of censorship. The Statute of Anne took the term "copyright" in a somewhat different direction, emphasizing the privileges of authors over printers, but in the beginning (from ca. 1557 to 1695) it was designed precisely to "control the mass distribution of information [the government] doesn't like".
    - YPPH 4y ago
      Clearly I stand corrected in relation to the private regime predating that Statute. I'd given it no thought, and didn't even consider it could be characterised as "copyright law". My apologies to the parent poster.
- btdmaster 4y ago
  See also the sources from this article [1]. [1] https://questioncopyright.org/promise https://questioncopyright.org/promise

by YPPH 4y ago

0xcde4c3db 4y ago

That's true of modern copyright, but modern copyright originated as a series of reforms to an older copyright regime in which rights attached to publishers that were members of a specific government-sanctioned organization [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worshipful_Company_of_Stationers_and_Newspaper_Makers#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worshipful_Company_of_Statione...

YPPH 4y ago
Well, that still falls well short of "control [of] the mass distribution of information [the government] doesn't like".
- nybble41 4y ago
  Did you happen to read the GP's link? The Stationer's Guild was granted a monopoly on printing so that it could implement the government's censorship: > During the Tudor and Stuart periods, the Stationers were legally empowered to seize "offending books" that violated the standards of content set down by the Church and state; its officers could bring "offenders" before ecclesiastical authorities, usually the Bishop of London or the Archbishop of Canterbury, depending on the severity of the transgression. As printing replaced hand-copying, enforcement of "authorized" printing (as in printing only what the government approves) came to include the "copy right", a rule devised by the Stationer's Guild wherein only certain printers were granted the privilege of printing certain books. Anyone who was not a guild member, or who didn't accept the government's censorship, would not be granted the "copy right" and would be punished for attempting to print or distribute the unauthorized books. This is where copyright originated, as an outgrowth of monopoly privileges designed for the purpose of censorship. The Statute of Anne took the term "copyright" in a somewhat different direction, emphasizing the privileges of authors over printers, but in the beginning (from ca. 1557 to 1695) it was designed precisely to "control the mass distribution of information [the government] doesn't like".
  - YPPH 4y ago
    Clearly I stand corrected in relation to the private regime predating that Statute. I'd given it no thought, and didn't even consider it could be characterised as "copyright law". My apologies to the parent poster.
btdmaster 4y ago
See also the sources from this article [1]. [1] https://questioncopyright.org/promise https://questioncopyright.org/promise