Printing Privileges
Printing privileges were granted by religious and governmental authorities to give printers the exclusive right to print a particular item (as with a single book title, or a single illustration) or category of materials (as with all liturgical books, or all maps of a particular country).
Privileges covered the entire territory under the granting authority: a papal privilege covered the Catholic world, the privilege of the king of Spain covered all Spanish-controlled lands, a local privilege may have covered only a single city. The granting of privileges offered authorities both income and the opportunity to control what was printed. In some regions, a privilege was not a requirement for printing, but it was desirable, as without it, printers had little to no recourse against other printers duplicating their works.