[Air-l] public domain/copyright Fwd: <nettime> the patron saint of copyleft?

[jeremy hunsinger]

one of those confirmable anecdotes that can help to historicize some of 
the ongoing arguments.  sharing this from the ever-popular nettime, with 
the name of the cow, so goes the name of the calf.

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Kermit Snelson <ksnelson at subjectivity.com>
> Date: Sun Mar 17, 2002  08:49:14 PM US/Eastern
> To: nettime-l at bbs.thing.net
> Subject: <nettime> the patron saint of copyleft?
> Reply-To: Kermit Snelson <ksnelson at subjectivity.com>
>
> In honor of Saint Patrick's Day, here's a reminder that one of Ireland's
> other patron saints, Saint Columba, may have pioneered the 
> anti-copyright
> movement way back in the sixth century (A.D. 555, to be exact):
>
>      St. Columba had borrowed from the monk a fine manuscript of the
> Gospels, and Columba had made a copy of the borrowed book, before 
> returning
> it.  The monk claimed the copy also as his; the saint disputed this.  
> His
> argument in defence reads not unlike the defence made by modern 
> infringers
> of copyright:  "I confess that the book in question was copied from the
> manuscript of Finnen.  But it was with my own industry and toil and 
> burning
> of the midnight oil.  And it was copied with such care that Finnen's
> manuscript is in no way injured by the act of copying.  Moreover, my 
> object
> was to preserve more surely the best parts of the book and employ them 
> for
> the greater glory of God.  Hence I do not admit that I have done any 
> injury
> to Finnen; nor am liable for restitution, nor am at fault in any way."  
> But
> Dermot, the judge, as manuscripts were then new in Ireland, had no exact
> precedent, and he cast about for the nearest analogy.  He found the 
> Brehon
> maxim, "With every cow goes its calf", "Le cach boin a boinin"; and so 
> his
> judgment was in favor of the monk, because "Le cach lebar a lebran", 
> "With
> every book goes the young of the book". (But the saint, it is recorded, 
> was
> very angry at this judgment, invoked the power of a rival chieftain 
> against
> Dermot, and thrashed him well in battle.)  [Wigmore, John H., _A 
> Panorama of
> the World's Legal Systems_, Washington DC, 1936, p. 677]
>
> Kermit Snelson
>
> #  distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission
> #  <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism,
> #  collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets
> #  more info: majordomo at bbs.thing.net and "info nettime-l" in the msg 
> body
> #  archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime at bbs.thing.net
>
>
jeremy hunsinger
jhuns at vt.edu
on the ibook
www.cddc.vt.edu
www.cddc.vt.edu/jeremy
www.dromocracy.com