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lostcarparkCopyright is a wonderful thing. Before it, an artist had no protection against their work being stolen and profited from. Early playrights could only make a profit on the performances of their plays that their own theater ran, and so jealously guarded their scripts. Poets could publish books of their poems, but there was nothing they could do if a rival printer copied it (short of hiring a band of men to rough them up and burn down their premises).
Ealry copyright laws expired when the artist died, but in the late nineteenth century this was changed to fifty years after their death. This is a reasonable approach, since many artists only become popular after their death, and it is fitting that their children should benefit since in many cases they did not enjoy the stability they might have if the artist was in regular employment. In the mid-nineties, this was further extended to seventy years. Again, I don't see a problem with this - at the end of the day it's not a big difference.
Except in the case of Joyce, whose grandson, Stephen is so jealously guarding the copyright to his work that he is threatening to sue anyone who performs readings of his work without seeking permission and paying royalties (which if reports are to believed, are nothing short of extortionate).
Even worse, he threatened to sue the National Library if they went ahead with an exhibition of manuscripts and documents. He claimed were in breach of copyright. In the end, the Irish Government stepped and changed the law to allow the exhibition to go ahead. It opens next Monday (14th June 2004) to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Bloomsday which takes place on the 16th.
The sad part is that his short-sighted approach is doing nothing but harm to the estate. Event organisers are forced to either cancel events or hold them without reading from any of Joyce's work, severely limiting the scope they cover. While I could accept a nominal fee being sought from professionally run events, most Bloomsday events are only trying to cover their expenses, and the fees being sought would cripple them. Furthermore the goodwill that a lenient approach to copyright would create is more likely to pay back in increased royalties from book sales, while looking for performance fees nobody can afford doesn't make him a brass cent.
Have a happy Bloomsday everyone!
Ealry copyright laws expired when the artist died, but in the late nineteenth century this was changed to fifty years after their death. This is a reasonable approach, since many artists only become popular after their death, and it is fitting that their children should benefit since in many cases they did not enjoy the stability they might have if the artist was in regular employment. In the mid-nineties, this was further extended to seventy years. Again, I don't see a problem with this - at the end of the day it's not a big difference.
Except in the case of Joyce, whose grandson, Stephen is so jealously guarding the copyright to his work that he is threatening to sue anyone who performs readings of his work without seeking permission and paying royalties (which if reports are to believed, are nothing short of extortionate).
Even worse, he threatened to sue the National Library if they went ahead with an exhibition of manuscripts and documents. He claimed were in breach of copyright. In the end, the Irish Government stepped and changed the law to allow the exhibition to go ahead. It opens next Monday (14th June 2004) to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Bloomsday which takes place on the 16th.
The sad part is that his short-sighted approach is doing nothing but harm to the estate. Event organisers are forced to either cancel events or hold them without reading from any of Joyce's work, severely limiting the scope they cover. While I could accept a nominal fee being sought from professionally run events, most Bloomsday events are only trying to cover their expenses, and the fees being sought would cripple them. Furthermore the goodwill that a lenient approach to copyright would create is more likely to pay back in increased royalties from book sales, while looking for performance fees nobody can afford doesn't make him a brass cent.
Have a happy Bloomsday everyone!
