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The development of the daguerreotype photographic process in 1839 by Frenchman Louis Daguerre was a pioneering step in photography. Remarkably, Daguerre did not profit from the invention in the usual way but made the process ‘free to the world’ as a gift. Where was the one exception?

Answer: Britain. A patent was filed in London requiring the purchase of a license to profit from the process, the only such place in the world.

Source: Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Photography by Lynne Warren

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