I'm reading Don Quixote. I'm not afraid to recognize that this is the first time I read it to my 28 years, first one never read it all right? and also, well, English is not my native language, so ... he is read throughout Rabelais me cast the first stone! Well, something that caught my attention in this book is that it begins with two sections, the first call rate, and the second simply KING (there is a section called WITNESS intermediary ERRATA, but not us).
treated in exactly what these sections? Well, those who are interested in a bit, I'll give what I think are the most important statements of the two, accompanied by a quick analysis:
RATE
rate reads:
rate reads:
I, Juan Gallo de Andrade, clerk of the House of the King our Lord, for those residing in the Council, certify and I certify that, having seen by the lords of a book called The Ingenious Gentleman of La Mancha, made by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, rated each statement of the book to three coppers and a half, which is eighty-three statements, that the said price of the book assembles the two hundred and ninety coppers and a half, that is to be sold in paper, and gave leave that at this price can be sold, and ordered that This rate is set at the beginning of the book, and can not be sold without it. And for that dello record, di this in Valladolid, twenty days of december one thousand six hundred and four years.
This paragraph Cervantes's book rate at a single price set by the state, and shows us very interesting things: first, the book contains 83 sheets of paper. Now the same book, pasted into a Word document in Arial 9 point, occupies some 700 pages in size "paperback" (16.5 x 11 cm). This means that, at the time of Cervantes, were read-books "maxi" playing with Word, I could tell that without complete with eyes made bags, our ancestors were reading a sheet of paper about 50 cm long if we accept that using a standard width of 21 cm (same size A4). "Not being that the statements were books" unfolded "and that the binding was reduced to half its size? If anyone has any idea, I'm interested ...
Another interesting thing is the value of the book: 290.5 coppers (for version "on paper", ie without binding, so the final consumer price was higher). According to a study of our financial research department, this book would cost in Nowadays the modest sum of 29 euros (ie, about 21,000 Chilean pesos). Take a few more coppers for binding and get a final cost of about 25 lucas in bookstores. This Gutenberg did something even better than the democratization of reading: the inflation of a product void in 400 years! In any case, hit the PLR \u200b\u200bthousand dozen eggs, which lost 50% of its value at this time.
Let's see what he says Felipe III.
KING
For
As part of you, Miguel de Cervantes, we were far relationship habíades written a book called The Ingenious Knight of La Mancha, which I had worked hard and was very helpful and useful, we pedistes and suplicastes mandásemos you to license and power to you to print, and privilege by the time we were served, or as our market was, by seeing which of our Council [...] was agreed that we should send our card to give this to you [.. .]. Why, for you do well and thanks, we give power to license and that you, or someone who has your power, and no other, you can print the book, entitled The ingenious hidalgo of Mancha, which is obsolete reference in these our kingdoms of Castile, by time and space of ten years to run and be counted from the day of the data that this our charter, under penalty that the person or persons without have your power, imprimiere or sells, or causes to print or sell, if he himself lost the impression which he vowed, with the molds and della gear, and more, incur penalty of fifty thousand pieces of silver every time you hand doeth. Which the penalty is the third part to the person who accuse and the other third part to our Chamber, and the other third part to the judge that it sentenciare. With as many times as hubiéredes to print the said book during the time of these ten years, it traigáis to our Board, together with the original that it was seen that each flat is initialed and signed at the end of Juan Gallo de Andrade, our Clerk of House, of which he resides, to see if this impression is as the original [...]. And send to the printer so that imprimiere the book, print the beginning or the first statement of him, or give more than one book to the original author or person to whom it imprimiere coast or any other, for the EFET this correction and rate, until the first and foremost on the book is edited and assessed by those of our Board, and, being done, and no other way, to print the said principle and the first statement, and put this on our ballot and approval, rate and errata, on pain of falling and incurring the penalties contained in law and Premat these our kingdoms. [...] Date Valladolid, the twenty-sixth day of the month of September one thousand six hundred and four years.
As part of you, Miguel de Cervantes, we were far relationship habíades written a book called The Ingenious Knight of La Mancha, which I had worked hard and was very helpful and useful, we pedistes and suplicastes mandásemos you to license and power to you to print, and privilege by the time we were served, or as our market was, by seeing which of our Council [...] was agreed that we should send our card to give this to you [.. .]. Why, for you do well and thanks, we give power to license and that you, or someone who has your power, and no other, you can print the book, entitled The ingenious hidalgo of Mancha, which is obsolete reference in these our kingdoms of Castile, by time and space of ten years to run and be counted from the day of the data that this our charter, under penalty that the person or persons without have your power, imprimiere or sells, or causes to print or sell, if he himself lost the impression which he vowed, with the molds and della gear, and more, incur penalty of fifty thousand pieces of silver every time you hand doeth. Which the penalty is the third part to the person who accuse and the other third part to our Chamber, and the other third part to the judge that it sentenciare. With as many times as hubiéredes to print the said book during the time of these ten years, it traigáis to our Board, together with the original that it was seen that each flat is initialed and signed at the end of Juan Gallo de Andrade, our Clerk of House, of which he resides, to see if this impression is as the original [...]. And send to the printer so that imprimiere the book, print the beginning or the first statement of him, or give more than one book to the original author or person to whom it imprimiere coast or any other, for the EFET this correction and rate, until the first and foremost on the book is edited and assessed by those of our Board, and, being done, and no other way, to print the said principle and the first statement, and put this on our ballot and approval, rate and errata, on pain of falling and incurring the penalties contained in law and Premat these our kingdoms. [...] Date Valladolid, the twenty-sixth day of the month of September one thousand six hundred and four years.
(c) 1604, M. Cervantes
right? Now, let's look a little on what is stated here: first, it gives the author the right to publish his book. Somehow, we can say that this role is played today agencies review and censorship of literary works. Then, the length of leave is something new: in the case of Cervantes, was granted a permission to publish 10 years. Once this period "works in the public domain? Or call for tenders and decided to extend the deadline or give rights to another subject? As noted Cervantes Virtual Center, the end of this period coincides with the publication of the second part of the work. Then given to think that the copyright was not renewable.
What is nice is to analyze the sentence to which it exposes a counterfeiter who printed the book without the author's consent: 50,000 coppers (5,000 euros or 3.6 billion pesos at current exchange rates), which appears to be a fair comparison with our times, where the penalties are higher, but also benefits due to increased circulation of books. What I like is the way of sharing the cake: 1 / 3 for which denounces the offense, 1 / 3 for the state and 1 / 3 to the judge issuing the sentence. With this, guarantee swift justice and above all fair! And the author who was the main victim of fraud, pocket a 0% of the fine ...
Finally, we see that King is careful not to expose to the circulation of subversive and possibly altered versions of the work, by forcing printers to validate each new version of its Council. nothing more than another form of censorship that we all know, finally.
And?
To conclude, I would say that apparently, the issue of copyright has not changed much in 400 years. Perhaps the big difference is that the price of books no longer fixed by the state (although in some books have a single price). And with the democratization of e-books, is highly likely that more and more, are the authors to set the final price of your books and get copyright proportionately much higher than they agree with its editorial today. Amazon already does and you can bet that this set of trends in electronic editions for years to come.