[sword-devel] NA27 module question

[Jerry Hastings]

At 10:28 AM 3/11/2003 -0500, Matthew Donadio wrote:
>They can also protect the UBS4/NA27 text itself with the copyright.

Not if they say it is in fact the original NT texts. And if they don't make 
that claim, they can only protect their differences from other texts, where 
those differences are "creative". My guess is it that they are not claiming 
it to be true to the originals, but that it is true to scholarly modern 
standards of textual methods, and that using these methods they have 
created something new, not recovered something old. In any case, assuming 
that the copyright is not valid could be a big mistake even if it is not valid.

>Without a copyright, then anyone else (like the JW's) is free to alter
>the text and publish it and say it is UBS4/NA27.  I don't think any of
>us want that to happen.

The desire to protect, for whatever reason, does not of it self make a 
valid copyright.

IANAL
Jerry