The History of Intellectual Property

So, while I'm not sure how much time I'll have to do this at BJU, I am planning (plotting) a study of Intellectual Property, and whether it is really as good and just as it is cracked up to be. Since I am a writer who loves free stuff, this is a rather important question.

I shall examine the time period of the invention of the printing press, the first copyrights, and then even earlier, to what existed before the printing press, i.e. how authors/writers/poets/etc. supported themselves, whether their works were often copied, etc.

Plagiarism: whence came this taboo?
Patents.
The Effects of the Printing Press.
The First Copyrights.
"In England the King was concerned by the unfair copying of books and used the royal prerogative to pass the Licensing Act 1662 which established a register of licensed books and required a copy to be deposited with the Stationers Company. The Statute of Anne was the first real act of copyright, and gave the author rights for a fixed period. Internationally, the Berne Convention in the late 1800s set out the scope of copyright protection and is still in force to this day."

Before the Printing Press: Monks.
(other sources of Pre-printing press literature)
The Poets Laureate.
How Bards, Troubadours, and Poets made a living.

How then shall we live?

Other things:
World Intellectual Property Organization