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It seems like German authors did publish lots and lots of things in the 19th century, without copyright. So why bother with a replacement. Just get rid of it.

(The 19th century is considered the classic period of German literature. And arguably of German science, too.)

If spreading knowledge without the encumberance of copyright law enhances the economy and makes everyone richer (except, presumably, the artist whose work will be copied), what system could be put in place to make sure the artist/researcher/scientist/inventor is compensated for his contributions to the growth of the economy?

In the past, there has been example of American publishers paying more money to British authors than they receive in royalty in their own land even though USA didn't recognize foreign copyright at the time.

Even though there was no copyright, the same thing happened to America as it did to Germany. There was increased literacy built on the back of (in some case well-compensated) British authors.

I am sure artist/inventors/researchers/scientists can find business models that substain themselves.

It should have been relatively easy to transplant the British literature to America. Do you know how much transfer there was to Germany?

No. The book I read contain case study on British-America copyright regime but nothing that I can remember dealing with Germany-British copyright regime.

What if you could combine "no intellectual privileges" (and therefor unlimited and natural dissemination of intelligence throughout the population) with an unconditional basic income for every citizen? That way "creatives" are payed enough to take the money issue of the table.