 Scribners' claimed U. S. copyright on several of the individual articles.In spite of this, "several hundred thousand" cheaply produced bootlegged copies were also sold in the U.S., which still did not have copyright laws protecting foreign publications.Famous infringers of that era include the Philadelphian Joseph M. Stoddart, who employed a spy in the "Britannica's" own printshop, Neill and Company, in Edinburgh.