How would a magical printing press effect society?

[Thrasher92]

In 3.5 edition there was a spell called Amanuensis which was a 0-level spell (written below).

It essentially could be used to easily and quickly copy non-magical writing. If translated to 5th edition, would this be a mistake, could this be used in a devious way? Why would or wouldn't you add this spell?

I mostly want to add it to explain that books aren't as expensive anymore so knowledge is spread easier.

Amanuensis
(Spell Compendium, p. 9)

Transmutation
Level: Cleric 0, Sorcerer 0, Wizard 0,
Components: V, S,
Casting Time: 1 Standard Action
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target: Object or objects with writing
Duration: 10 minutes/level
Saving Throw: Will negates (object)
Spell Resistance: Yes (object)

You point at the writing and then move your hand as though holding a stylus or quill. As you intone the spell, the script appears on a sheet of paper close at hand.

You cause writing from one source (such as a book) to be copied into a book, paper, or parchment. This spell copies 250 words per minute and creates a perfect duplicate of the original. The spell copies only nonmagical text, not illustrations or magical writings (such as the text of a spellbook, a spell scroll, or a sepia snake sigil). If the target contains normal and magical writing (such as a letter with explosive runes), only the normal text is copied, leaving blank space in the copied text where the magical writing would be expected. Likewise, if the target contains text and illustration, only the text is copied.

The spell triggers (but does not copy) writing-based magic traps in the material being copied.

Blank paper, parchment, or a book must be provided for the spell to write upon. If the target has multiple pages, the spell automatically turns to the next blank page whenever necessary. If more pages in the target exist than blank pages are available, the spell copies the original until it runs out of
blank pages. At any time during the spell's duration you can redirect the magic to copy from another target, copy onto a different blank source, or resume a duplication that was interrupted by a shortfall of blank pages.

The spell does not translate the copied writing. If you do not understand the original, you have no additional ability to understand the copy.

[Thorongil]

From a Worldbuilding perspective, this could be world shaking, much like the printing press was in our world. It depends on how common literacy is and how far advanced society is when you introduce the spell. High-magic Renaissance-Esque setting where the peasants never fear starvation and the Kings are wise and just? Probably won’t do much. Is your setting in a Dark Age with a repressive church and tyrannical monarchy? Get ready for an explosion of literacy, underlings questioning authority, political insurrection, etc. etc.

EDIT: I don’t see much in the way of players to abuse the spell, just off the top of my head. But over time, as more people learn the spell, things could get hairy for the people in charge of your world.

[Anymage]

Lots of the elements would need to be changed or pared down due to the nature of 5e spells. Saving throw becomes irrelevant, and range and duration don't scale by level anymore. Those are counterbalanced by the fact that cantrips are more sorcererlike now; you know a certain number and can't learn any more, but they can be cast at will. PC wizards and clerics might not think it's worth one of their slots to be a more effective scribe, but a fair number of NPCs might.

Ignoring the translation issues, you still have a bottleneck of how many scribes you have. The spell would be nice in an Eberron-ish world where low level magic was fairly common and there were casters who weren't PC types. (There's a 5e feat that works very well with this idea.) You'll still need either a sizable number of scribes, or to go all in on the magitech/steampunk and have an actual printing press if you want to see the volume of literacy you're going after.

What would it do to your campaign? You'd need at least one huge city to make mass publications and literacy training worth the investment, but that isn't too hard for most campaigns to accommodate. Once you have that, it'd introduce modern anachronisms into your campaign, but no more than you usually see through how people play.

[Samayu]

How would a magical printing press effect society?

This is really a question about worldbuilding. Or at least, my brain is wired to think of it in those terms, and so I can't really comment on the spell's use by players.

In the D&D world, magic is intended to be rare. This helps keep the world more like medieval Earth. But let's say a town of 300 people has thirty wizards. How many of them are running legitimate businesses that rely on their magical talents? Like a smith? She's shaping metal with her mind, and doing it just as quickly as a standard blacksmith. She's not paying for coal or tools, but is arguably paying more for training (let's not talk about spell components).

Magical machines are already starting to show up in the various D&D (even setting aside Ravnica's steampunk setting). How long is it before we hit a full-scale magical-industrial revolution? When magical "technology" is so commonplace, physical technology may not evolve. But my point is that when magic is more common, there will be more mundane uses for it.

But relating more specifically to your character, what is the most advantageous use of your magic? If it's copying books, why are you adventuring? If it's adventuring, why are you wasting your resources learning this spell?

[Unoriginal]

FR has the printing press, if you want to see a D&D world that was affected by it.

[Sigreid]

Another option than that spell would be a high level wizard who has a permanent Mighty Fortress and puts those 100 unseen servant to work as 100 scribes.

[JackPhoenix]

Everyone in D&D is literate, and books and other written texts are much more comnon that they were in real world pre-printing press. Magical printing press on its own wouldn't change much.

Spellcasters are rare, their services expensive, and they generally have better things to do, unless you're playing Eberron.