[Coco] Republishing Magazines

[jdaggett at gate.net]

The idea of intelectaul property was born out of the changing ideas from the 
invention of movable type and the printing press. We moved from a bardic system 
to a society that finally started to write down the tales of the spoken word. While 
many of the legends and stories of old were written down, they were in but limited 
texts and not widely dispersed throughout Europe. Other societies had books but 
still all were hand copied and with great care. All required time to reproduce. 

For many millenniums the thought of plagarism and the ownership of the written 
word was considerably different from modern times. Often it was in the highest 
honor to write and ascribe your work in the name of your mentor and teacher. Much 
of the current Christian Bible is written in that way. The five books of the Torah are 
ascribed to Moses yet clearly there are five disticnt styles of writting within the 
Torah. The book of Isaiah has three distinct styles. It was when books could be 
turned out in weeks instead of years that it became realizable that one can profit on 
the writing of books. Prior to the press only a few of the wealthy and the clergy read 
books. Even King John of England was illiterate when he signed his "X" on the  
Magna Carta. 

The press brought a revelation that more needed to read in order for profit from the 
new invention. It brought about education for the masses. They then could now read 
the works of the ancient authors and the new authors that were created with modern 
books. 

james


On 27 Dec 2003 at 10:27, Dennis Bathory-Kitsz wrote:

> At 08:48 PM 12/26/03 -1000, Alex wrote:
> >Remember also that the purpose behind the creation of the concept of
> >intellectual property c.1600 was to encourage its creation, while
> >simultaneously ensuring that it would benefit society at a whole.
> 
> At the time it was to benefit the new and burgeoning publishing
> industry. Before that, in the era of one-of-a-kinds, hand copies,
> etc., there was no real issue. But following movable type's
> introduction, and other new printing processes, it became necessary to
> be able to secure the exclusive work of an author against the
> competition. This made for many issues between the Italian and German
> publishing industries (for example), with separate laws in the
> countries.
> 
> But its main feature was to define the fruits of the mind as property.
> 
> Now look where it's got us! :)
> 
> Dennis
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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