Gikii, the UK day conference for law, tech, and popular culture, took place last week. The papers look fascinating, especially these slides about tattoo and copyright from ORG volunteer and past EFF intern Jordan Hatcher. It’s hard to make out all of the points he makes from just the slides, but towards the end you can see he’s asking some tough questions about the European principle of moral rights in creative works. If an artist has a inviolable natural right to control what is done with his artwork after it is produced, does that mean tattoo artists can sue to stop their work being erased modified (Thanks Ian for schooling me on the limits of moral rights)?
Also good is Ray Corrigan’s examination of the proto-copyright beliefs of Saint Columba, patron saint of bookbinders, founder of the Scottish Church, and cause of 3000 dead over the unauthorised copying of a manuscript in 6th century Ireland. Columba transcribed without permission a rare copy of the Vulgate Bible brought back by a colleague from Rome. The suit over the case went to the Irish court, where some familiar debates ensued:
Finnen first told the king his story and he said “Colmcille hath copied my book without my knowing,” saith he and I contend that the son of the book belongs to me.
“I contend,” saith Colmcille [Columba], “that the book of Finnen is none the worse for my copying it, and it is not right that the divine words in that book should perish, or that I or any other should be hindered from writing them or reading them or spreading them among the tribes. And further I declare that it was right for me to copy it, seeing the was profit to me from doing in this wise, and seeing it was my desire to give the profit thereof to all peoples, with no harm therefore to Finnen or his book.”
“Have attitudes to law and technology really changed a whole lot in 1400 years?”, Corrigan asks. For how the judgement goes and the rest of the story of the Battle of the Book, you’ll need to read the paper. A full list of papers from the conference is also online.