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The price to be five ducats; for this sum she can keep the work a year for her own amusement, without either of us being entitled to publish it. After the lapse of a year, the sonata to revert to me--that is, I can and will then publish it, when, if she considers it any distinction, she may request me to dedicate it to her.
I love this. I wonder what copyright-like protections there were in Austria at that time. The language suggests some legal ownership.
I can't find any reference to copyright law under the Archduchy of Austria (1457–1804) or the Austrian Empire (1804–1867). It is likely that a composer such as Beethoven had no explicit protection for his works once they were sold to a publisher for lump sum.