~---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 31 Aug 1995 14:41:50 -0700
From: KONEIL@pimacc.pima.edu
To: b83050@cctwin.ee.ntu.edu.tw
Subject: taishodaizokyo copyright

I'm not sure what claims can be made to copyrights of the Taisho. Reprints
from Taiwan, possibly Hong Kong, have been on the market for years. Now that
CDs have become a new business opportunity it seems the Japanese are making
claims. Regardless of points of Japanese laws, Internatioal laws alone reign
supreme in this matter.

Under most copyright law, taking documents which have been in the public
domain for some decades and then attempting to copyright them is not possible
without changing the material 40%. Clearly the sutras contained in the Taisho
have been in the public domain for literally centuries and centuries. Unless
substantial critical editing was performed on them, I doubt the Japanese have
recourse to copyright claims. Secondly, if they have not sought preventative
remedies against pirate editions (everybody knows about them), claims to
prevent CD Roms are rather silly.

If the matter is to be contested, do not let that happen in a Japanese court;
it is an international issue - especially since the bulk of the Taisho is a
Chinese literary heritage!
Sincerely,

Ken O'Neill

ps - please respond to my other email address:

	koneill@azstarnet.com

oh...I use a PC operating under windows 3.11. I'm looking for a low cost
solution to reading Big 5 texts as well as having flexability with font sets.
I'm a priest of the Shin Buddhist tradition and am seeking to make bilingual
interlinear versions of sutras for study and practice/ritual. I have Twin
Bridge but am looking for a font solution that will work with my Epson lazer
printer. Please help if you can.