What project?

endzweig wrote:
>
> Cindi --
>
> Here's a name for your files, if you continue to work with this subject.  -- Pam
>
> At 01:13 AM 2/14/98 +0200, you wrote:
> >Thank you to those who responded to my request for advice on software
> >for starting a photo archive.
> >I have another question now, about copyright issues relating to the
> >manuscripts I have been photographing.
> >A brief background:  these are manuscripts written on parchment bound
> >between wooden boards, that were brought by the Ethiopian Jews from
> >Ethiopia to Israel. The contents are prayers and religious texts, copied
> >from earlier manuscripts; the prayers are related to the oral liturgical
> >tradition. The authorship is unknown: the Ethiopian Jews traditionally
> >attribute many of them to Abba Sabra, a 15th-century monk, but their
> >origins may well go back earlier.
> >The manuscripts I have handled date probably to the early 20th or the
> >19th century. For some of them, I have been able to find out from the
> >Qes (priest/religious leader) who lent them to me the name of the
> >scribe/copyist (generally an Ethiopian Jewish monk or Qes), and his
> >relationship to the present owner (e.g. grandfather, teacher). Others
> >are said to have been bought or commissioned from professional copyists
> >(sometimes Ethiopian Christian - but copied under supervision by an
> >Ethiopian Jewish monk or qes, to ensure faithful copying and that no
> >Christian expressions were included).
> >I am translating one of these manuscripts from Ge`ez into English,and
> >also recording oral history from the Qessotch regarding the social
> >background and provenance of the manuscripts. I have been told that the
> >copyist of the book I am translating died about 50 years ago, and that
> >his grandchildren are living in Israel.
> >How I gained access to the manuscripts: the Qessotch asked me to make
> >photocopies of them and get these bound for their own use and
> >distribution among the community (since many of their books had got lost
> >during their journey from Ethiopia to Israel), and allowed me also to
> >make a copy for myself. (This is a rare privilege: they have been
> >traditionally very secretive about their books and reluctant to show
> >them to outsiders or to part with them. They are now very concerned
> >about the survival and continuance of their religious and cultural
> >heritage in the very different conditions of Israel; and I have been
> >fortunate in gaining their confidence to the extent that they entrust
> >their books to me.)
> >
> >I would like to know what copyright laws might apply in this situation.
> >For example, my photographs of the manuscripts are my own work; if I
> >want to publish them or to deposit copies in a public archive, do I need
> >the permission of the owners of the original manuscripts?
> >What is the status of a scribe/copyist who copies by hand a pre-existing
> >text? - is he the "creator" of this work, even though he is not its
> >author?
> >
> >Margaret Hayon
> >Student of Museology, University of Haifa, Israel
> >and researcher of Ethiopian Jewish heritage.
> >