Intellectual Property Law

The Shoulders of God and the Shoulders of Giants

By Siva Vaidhyanathan

NPR's Day to Day ran a story today on "Who Made the 'Footprints'?" about the copyright battle over the seemingly anonymous mass-market inspirational poem that features footprints in the sand, religious doubt, and a revelation about being carried by a divine being. (You know the one I mean, although I won't quote it here.) Multiple parties are claiming intellectual property rights to the verses that have graced greeting cards, coffee mugs, and office plaques that challenge the separation of church and state. Apparently at least three separate "authors" are jostling for bragging rights to lines that have proven extremely lucrative for Christian retail.

Full post as published by SIVACRACY .NET on June 11, 2008 (boomark / email).