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orion Edinburgh symposium: Scrolls & Intellectual Property



                        Edinburgh Symposium:
       "On Scrolls, Artefacts and Intellectual Property"
                        Wednesday 19 May 1999
      Martin Hall, Faculty of Divinity, Mound Place, Edinburgh
      
The primary aim of this one-day Symposium is to address the
interdisciplinary issue of the intellectual property rights of
archaeologists, principal text editors and curators for the study,
publication, and preservation of artefacts.  The focus of the Symposium
will be on issues arising from the law suit over 4QMMT (a text from the
Dead Sea Scrolls known as "some precepts of the torah").  The case is
presently on appeal in the Israeli Supreme Court.

But the legal issues arising from the case of the Dead Sea Scrolls have
much wider ramifications.  Are modern editors to be considered as
"authors" of the ancient manuscripts that they edit?  Do archaeologists
have special claims to the artefacts that they dig up and preserve?  Can
curators claim copyright for the work of art that they restore?  What are
the principles underlying the claim to intellectual property and how are
they formulated in international copyright laws?

The topics discussed in this one-day Symposium include: Personal history
of the original Dead Sea Scrolls editorial team. Restricted access to the
unpublished Dead Sea Scrolls: conspiracy theory, academic control or
prudent editorial practice? The publication of the principal editions in
The Discoveries in the Judaean Desert: Past practices and Present State.
Are ancient manuscripts and archaeological artefacts copyrightable? Should
"the sweat of the brow" count as a principle of intellectual property?

Digging up the past: excavators and the obligation of publication.
Participants:
Sir Stewart Sutherland (Vice-Chancellor, University of Edinburgh), Rt Hon.
Lord Rodger (Lord President, Court of Session), Prof. Cindy Alberts Carson
(Whittier Law School), Prof. Russell Osgood (Cornell Law School and
Grinnell College), Prof. John Strugnell (Harvard University), Prof.
Emanuel Tov (Hebrew University of Jerusalem), Prof. Geza Vermes
(University of Oxford), Mr. Hershel Shanks (Biblical Archaeology Society),
Prof. John Richardson (University of Edinburgh), Prof. A. Graeme Auld
(University of Edinburgh) and Prof. Jeremy Phillips
(London).

Organizers:
Dr. Timothy H. Lim (Faculty of Divinity, University of Edinburgh), Prof.
Hector MacQueen (Faculty of Law, University of Edinburgh) and Prof. Calum
Carmichael, (Cornell University)

Sponsoring Units: Faculty of Divinity, University of Edinburgh, Shepherd &
Wedderburn Centre for Research in Intellectual Property and Technology,
University of Edinburgh, and Cornell University Law School

Further Information:

Lydia M. Lawson, Conference Secretary, The Edinburgh Symposium,
Faculty of Law, University of Edinburgh
Old College, South Bridge, Edinburgh  EH8 9YL, Scotland
Tel. +44-(0)131-650-2008; Fax +44-(0)131-650-9094; e-mail.
Lydia.Lawson@ed.ac.uk
or
http://www.div.ed.ac.uk/symposium/Background.html

For private reply, e-mail to Avital Pinnick <mspinnik@mscc.huji.ac.il>
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