>State-enforced copyright came about with the Statute of Anne in 1710. It was the result lobby of a group English publishers who sought to regain their monopoly

>State-enforced copyright came about with the Statute of Anne in 1710. It was the result lobby of a group English publishers who sought to regain their monopoly on publishing. Handing out the initial copyright to the authors was a political gesture: the goal has always been to get authors to hand over the copyright to the publisher, effectively giving the publisher a monopoly. This is confusing. It's a political gesture and yet people wanted it enough to value that gesture. So clearly some people wanted to protect authors. Plus a whole social system has been built on top of copyright over the last 300 years and that matters a lot more than whatever a bunch of rich people in the 1700s thought. >In most countries, copyright holds for 70 years after the death of the author. Such a long-term copyright cannot possibly be meant to protect authors. Supporting one's family is a major goal of many people. Ets, etc.