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VATICAN CITY, Jan 23, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- The Vatican has decided to impose strict copyright restrictions on the words of Pope Benedict XVI and his predecessors going back to John XXIII.
The edict makes the Vatican publishing house, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, the copyright holder. The copyright applies to all papal documents, including encyclicals, the Times of London reported.
One Italian publisher who put out an anthology that included brief extracts from Pope Benedict's speech to the conclave and his enthronement speech has received a bill from the Vatican for 15,000 euros (almost $18,500), an amount based on 15 percent of the cover price plus some money for legal expenses.
Vittorio Messori, a writer who has co-authored books with both Benedict and Pope John Paul II, said that the copyright "surrounds the clergy with the odor of money" and that a pope's words should be free.
"This is wholly negative and absolutely disastrous for the Vatican's image," he said.
Under the edict, journalists who break embargoes on papal speeches and encyclicals could be fined.
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
