pedro san pedro
7th February 2006, 04:25
Full Article (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-2005615,00.html)
Vatican 'cashes in' by putting price on the Pope's copyright
From Richard Owen in Rome
THE Vatican has been accused of trying to cash in on the Popes words after it decided to impose strict copyright on all papal pronouncements.
For the first time all papal documents, including encyclicals, will be governed by copyright invested in the official Vatican publishing house, the Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
The edict covers Pope Benedict XVIs first encyclical, which is to be issued this week amid huge international interest. The edict is retroactive, covering not only the writings of the present pontiff as Pope and as cardinal but also those of his predecessors over the past 50 years. It therefore includes anything written by John Paul II, John Paul I, Paul VI and John XXIII.
The decision was denounced yesterday for treating the Popes words as saleable merchandise and endangering the Churchs mission to spread the Christian message.
Seems that the Catholic Church is joing the intellectual property age! The Vatican has declared it intends to claim copyright on the current and previous Popes' words, and require any publications carrying those words to license them for a royalty equivalent to 3-5% of the cover price. Newspapers are exempted from the royalty, but only by "prior agreement". It is this last aspect that concerns me the most - those papers that are critical of the Vactican are unlikely (at best) to gain this exemption, giving the Vacticain some form of veto over any commentary not to its liking.
Vatican 'cashes in' by putting price on the Pope's copyright
From Richard Owen in Rome
THE Vatican has been accused of trying to cash in on the Popes words after it decided to impose strict copyright on all papal pronouncements.
For the first time all papal documents, including encyclicals, will be governed by copyright invested in the official Vatican publishing house, the Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
The edict covers Pope Benedict XVIs first encyclical, which is to be issued this week amid huge international interest. The edict is retroactive, covering not only the writings of the present pontiff as Pope and as cardinal but also those of his predecessors over the past 50 years. It therefore includes anything written by John Paul II, John Paul I, Paul VI and John XXIII.
The decision was denounced yesterday for treating the Popes words as saleable merchandise and endangering the Churchs mission to spread the Christian message.
Seems that the Catholic Church is joing the intellectual property age! The Vatican has declared it intends to claim copyright on the current and previous Popes' words, and require any publications carrying those words to license them for a royalty equivalent to 3-5% of the cover price. Newspapers are exempted from the royalty, but only by "prior agreement". It is this last aspect that concerns me the most - those papers that are critical of the Vactican are unlikely (at best) to gain this exemption, giving the Vacticain some form of veto over any commentary not to its liking.