Not granting the right to copy, controlling it was the entire point. The ability to produce copies of existing works never needed protection because it's a natural right that follows from the human ability to create. And that ability never needed limiting because creating a copy involved a large part of the same painstaking work that the original required.
Copyright was only introduced after the invention of the printing press. The whole point of copyright was to limit the persons/entities allowed to produce copies of a work, because suddenly the ability to copy became a lot cheaper than the ability to create.
Copyright was only introduced after the invention of the printing press. The whole point of copyright was to limit the persons/entities allowed to produce copies of a work, because suddenly the ability to copy became a lot cheaper than the ability to create.