this century we were a net importer and british books were eagerly sought by an increasingly literate populace. according to david saunders, the first catalogue of harpers contained 234 titles of which 90% were english and prior to the civil war, approximately 50% of all fiction bestsellers were unauthorized foreign works. and the report of the british royal commission on copyrights worries that they have cheap rates of 40 million, perhaps most active ones in the world. and unauthorized reprinting can be viewed as a vast free rider problem or maybe in easy rider in the sense that there were some cost associated. but a lot of overhead was removed. but why do the authors continue to write and publish if the incentives were removed. in part because copyright laws of their own country allow them to capture the domestic benefits of their labor. they might hope for payments from american publishers and this was irresistible to american publishers. and the american public domain, as i call it, it was parasitic in this regard and it runs without the risk of resource without feeling to incentivize it.

of and so the founders, not wrongly, had this vision based on having dealt with a very literate populace, the population was a much higher literacy rate than in europe, and they obviously engaged in ideas, so the founders' vision was of enlightened leaders presiding over an educated populace. that was the vision. over the next two centuries, we would see that that vision was challenged, and it was challenged in two ways. the first way was in the second era i want to talk about in the 19th century. in the 19th century, i said there were two types of entertainment available at the time. the other type was live entertainment. and if a president wanted to get his message out, if he wanted to go and see and be seen, he couldn't go on youtube, he couldn't go on radio or tv, he went to where the people were. and the people were at live performances. so i tell the story of james monroe going around the country on a goodwill tour, and in each city he would go to, he would go to theatrical performances because that's where the people were. but theater is a very democratic, small d medium. in the t

of and so the founders, not wrongly, had this vision based on having dealt with a very literate populace, the population was a much higher literacy rate than in europe, and they obviously engaged in ideas, so the founders' vision was of enlightened leaders presiding over an educated populace. that was the vision. over the next two centuries, we would see that that vision was challenged, and it was challenged in two ways. the first way was in the second era i want to talk about in the 19th century. in the 19th century, i said there were two types of entertainment available at the time. the other type was live entertainment. and if a president wanted to get his message out, if he wanted to go and see and be seen, he couldn't go on youtube, he couldn't go on radio or tv, he went to where the people were. and the people were at live performances. so i tell the story of james monroe going around the country on a goodwill tour, and in each city he would go to, he would go to theatrical performances because that's where the people were. but theater is a very democratic, small d medium. in the t

was a net importer of the works of fiction and british books were sought by an increasingly literate populace. according to david saunders, the harper firm's first catalogue contained 234 titles of which 90% were english reprints. prior to the civil war, approximately 50% of all of the fiction bestsellers were unauthorized foreign works. the report of the 1878 british royal commission on copyright worried that american publishers could issue british books in the words of the commission at cheap rates to a population of 40, perhaps the most active readers in the world. unauthorized reprinting can be viewed as a vast free rider problem to read or maybe easy rider given the sense that there were some costs associated with pirating. but a lot of overhead was removed. but if the reprinting the road so heavily on the foreign authors, why did the authors continue to write and publish? whwhited foreign authors contine to write and publish if the incentives were removed? in part because the copyright laws of their own countries allow them to capture the domestic benefits of their labors. they might ho