A passive verb can be used when the person doing the action does not need to be mentioned.
電話は ベルに はつめいされました。×
電話は ベルによって はつめいされました。○
This sentence feels strange for Japanese people because it implies we are negatively affected by Bell inventing the telephone. In order to neutralise the effect, you need to use ～によって in place of に. The verbs are often to do with creation, such as 発明“invent”, 発見“discover”, 書く“write”, etc.
Footer