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We in the Asatru community have a problem: a much larger problem than our petty political and theological bickering a problem which, if left unresolved, will threaten the very foundation of our faith. This is the problem of copyright, and it's rather unintended effects on our resurgent troth. Please note that this is not another "information wants to be free" rant. While I could (and, I the past, have) expounded at great length about software licenses, patent law and the "Sonny Bono Perpetual Copyright Extension Act", I want to confine my comments here strictly to the effects of traditionally copyrighted material on our Way, and to suggest remedies that Asatru authors may wish to consider. This is an issue about which I have thought long and hard, and in fact, an article of mine on this subject was published in Theod Magazine in 1994. Simply stated, the problem is this: traditional authors and publishers copyrights, as commonly used and defined, have the effect of preventing the free and open dissemination of our beliefs. Copyright was originally instituted to protect the author of a work of "intellectual property" (an article, poem, book, play, motion picture, software program, usw.) , and to insure that the financial benefits of such work, if any, went to the author, and not to others who simply copied the work - it was a literal "copy right", a right to make copies. And, ethically, this is exactly as it should be. The intention of copyright law is to encourage authors to produce new works, by insuring that their work will not be stolen (their copy rights "infringed"). The encouragement, presumably, will come from the money the author receives from selling the work. The problem, for us, begins with our collective size. No one that I know of, to date, has made a living from selling Asatru religious books or articles. And, with the exception of novelists (who write with Asatru themes) such as Diana Paxson, Poul Anderson or Stephen Grundy, no one is likely to do so any time soon. There are simply not enough of us to buy the material. And, as a published author of Asatru material myself, I daresay that the thought of dollars rolling into my bank account is not uppermost in my mind when I write on these subjects. Most of the Asatru religious practice books
that have been produced are either self-published by the author,
published by very small presses or organizations, or sent to
the "mass" New Age market by Llewellyn
Publications. The latter currently has two books with Asatru
themes, one of which (The Rites of Odin, by Ed Fitch) is held
in general disrepute (though perhaps undeservedly so) by the
Asatru community. A Book of Troth, by Edred Thorsson, the book
with which I discovered our ancient pathway, has been out of
print for nearly a decade. Then there's the material that we write: the articles in Lina, Idunna, Vor Tru, The Runestone, Wolf Age, Mountain Thunder, usw. These article, as per convention in the magazine publishing business, have a copyright on the "collection" of articles, with the copyright on each individual article reverting back to the author after initial publication. And, while I'm sure many of us who write such articles wold gladly give our permission for reprints or republications, it is here that a rather peculiar aspect of our Way comes into play, that of assuming a "religious name". I have an old copy of an Asatru rag called Berserkgangr. I would love to put a particular piece of poetry on my homepage - but who in the world is "Ragnar Firehammer", anyway? The magazine is defunct, web searches turn up nothing. My only choices are: "vike" (steal) the poem and see if anyone complains, or be completely ethical and forego placing it on my page. As if to add insult to injury, our Way places a great deal of emphasis on the remembrance of an individual - i.e. "fair fame never dies for him that earns it!". Copyright, traditionally applied, has the effect of locking up our [intellectual property] deeds for nearly a century after our death! Fat chance of being remembered that way, unless you're Stephen King or Margaret Mitchell. You may always give permission to reprint, but will your estate? How about your Christian heirs? So, how do we solve these particular problems, all interrelated and seemingly intractable? How do we protect the rights of the authors yet insure the widest possible distribution of our works and materials? We, as authors, need to consider placing these types of works into a copyright system which does not limit their reproduction, and yet allows us to retain ownership and at least some degree of control over our works. In 1994 I began placing all Asatru related written works of mine into a system I devised called the "Common Domain". This is not the same as the public domain - in this system, I retain full copyright over the work, but grant reproduction (copy) rights to any non-profit organization. The full text of the 1994 Common Domain Definition is reproduced below. In 1998 I became aware of a similar movement arising from the growth of Open Source and Free Software. These folks needed an "Open Content" and "Open Publication" license for their software documentation, and came up with something remarkably similar to the Common Domain that I had devised some years earlier. You can find the text of the licenses they use at the Open Content website. This has worked well, and I have found several of my poems and articles across the web. There is, however, on problem with this approach. One of the sites on which I discovered an article of mine was a site run by neo-Nazis. In the original definition, I insisted on placement of a copyright notice, but not on the placement of the Common Domain Definition itself. I also neglected to insert any disclaimer into the definition. This lends the appearance of an endorsement when my work shows up on a given site or in a given publication. Not what I had in mind, I can assure you! Earlier this year I revised the Common Domain Definition. In the revision I explicitly disclaim endorsement, add a "warranty", and allow format changes and translations, but not semantic changes. I also removed the clause permitting distribution only by non-profit organizations, figuring that I'd get a better distribution without it. I urge Asatru authors to use these tools to protect their rights and allow free and wide distribution of their works. I would like to see this system adopted by our graphics artists as well, to the extent that is possible. Bear in mind that these licenses will be completely unacceptable to "regular", establishment publishers. But our self-publishing efforts could certainly use them to great effect. If we are to have a legacy, we need to insure it's availability. We need our blots, our rituals, our reconstructed game rules, even our recipes to be available to all. We need to pass on our craft and clothing patterns, our poetry and the bedtime stories we tell our children. We need to research and preserve our family trees and our family histories - for without families there is no folk. Nobody's going to get rich off our backs, there's simply not a market for it - but some seeker may discover their own True Path, some newbie may find an amazing revelation, and perhaps, just maybe, our words and deeds will not only survive, but thrive in the hearts and minds of the generations to come. Daithi M Haxton
The 1994 "Common Domain" Definition Copyright <year> by <copyright holders name>
The 2001 "Common Domain" Definition Copyright <year> by <copyright holders name>
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| Copyright 2001 by Daithi M Haxton |