on Jane Friedman site:

After Gutenberg invented the printing press, Europe’s kings and bishops feared (correctly) that printing might encourage sedition and heresy. They identified material fit for reproduction and offered favored printers the exclusive right to copy it— “copyright.” In exchange, the printers vowed not to reproduce anything the authorities found offensive.

But early copyrights were fantasies. Our concept of intellectual property was centuries in the future. Culture belonged to everyone. Who could assert ownership? Certainly not authors. They didn’t own their work. Printers did. Meanwhile, copyrights were enforceable only within single jurisdictions, while rampant smuggling and unauthorized reproduction spread books everywhere. Today, we call this book piracy, but back then it was like picking wildflowers in an open field.