Germany was also the last country that formed, by far. Not that that even matters because copyright laws did exist before that. The difference is that the "Deutsche Bund" had copyright only last for ten years, starting with the publication of a work. Though, it changed in 1845 to lifetime + 30 years. But, just like in all the other countries, copyright only applied on a national level. International copyright became a proper thing in 1886 with the Berne Convention. Before that, the British could easily copy French or German works for instance.

Anyway, so basically all countries were on an even playing field. Industrialization in the German states also only really kicked off after the revolution of 1848/49, so that was after the copyright version which lasted a long time came into effect. Of course, industrialization then switched into high gear after the formation of Germany in 1871. In the end, something that gentleman11 mentioned is of actual importance here: "My impression was that Germany was an industrial powerhouse because of their fragmented states prior to unification, leading to needing a hard work ethic to get by." Having a hyper-competitive national market and the means to transport the wares into all corners of the market really fuels innovation. It was the case back then just as it is the case now.