 Prussia introduced a copyright law rather late, in 1837, but even then authors and publishers just had to go to another German state to circumvent its ruling.Höffner argues that, as a result, there was a massive proliferation of books, fostering the spread of knowledge and laying the foundation for the country's eventual industrial ascendency.Comparing the English system, where copyright ruled, to the free-wheeling German situation, he notes that in 1843 about 14,000 new publications, including a high proportion of academic works, were published in Germany, compared to only about 1,000 publications in England.