Gutenberg's Lawsuit By Fust

Where only some people wanted to expand their knowledge, everyone wanted to be saved from eternal damnation. Coupled with this financial advantage, Gutenberg was a very religious man. He was extremely passionate about spreading the word of God. In fact, during the process of creating his press, he stated “Through it, God will spread His Word. A spring of truth shall flow from it: like a new star it shall scatter the darkness of ignorance, and cause a light heretofore unknown to shine amongst men” (Gutenberg). Because of this passion and financial sense, he printed the forty-two line Bible, which to this day is one of the most sought-after books in existence. Unfortunately for Johannes, this would be the only book he would be able to print on his own press. At this point the lawsuit by Fust had been completed, and Fust took control of the rights to use and operate the press technology (Rees 56).
Under the control of Fust, the press would go on to produce books unlike anything that had been seen before. Now that there was less effort involved in simply the print, artisans could focus on decorations in the books. The first
Even though the Gutenberg Bible had provided him a respectable income before the lawsuit, he would have to use this money to pay reparations to Fust after the suit. Now all Gutenberg had left was the glory of his invention. Given that it was now Fust’s, because of the lawsuit and the first Bible printed on it, Johannes was lucky enough to receive credit for the invention. Because of this, in 1465 the archbishop of Mainz awarded him with an annual gift of various goods. These goods included wine, clothing, grain, and other necessities. He was even exempt from many (if not all) of the taxes which he would have otherwise been expected to pay. This gift from the church is essentially the only thing that allowed him to live as long as he did (Rees