Well, I have finally found one way in which the Holy See (Vatican) is not superior to the USA. The US, unlike many states, claims no copyright in any official works of the government or its agencies. Sad to say, the Vatican has assigned the copyrights to papal texts to the Vatican publishing house and “it appears the Vatican is determined to enforce the copyrights.” For exmaple,
The Vatican sent a 15,000 euro invoice … to Italian publisher Baldini & Castoldi for a small anthology of Ratzinger’s writings published immediately after his election by journalist Marco Tosatti of La Stampa. It also dunned Piemme, another Italian publisher, for 5,000 Euro for reprinting John Paul II’s nine-page final testament in a book by Andrea Tornielli, who writes for Il Giornale. Tosatti’s case may end up in court.
I don’t often side with fundamentalists, but I will admit I don’t see anything in the Bible authorizing the Church to institute copyright law….
Still, the Vatican does not tax; it’s supported by voluntary contributions. Overall, I think it has the edge over the USA.
4:50 pm on January 27, 2006
