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Qimron Is Author of MMT Reconstruction, Jerusalem Court Holds
As we go to press with this issue, Judge Dalia Dorner of the Jerusalem District Court has ruled that for copyright purposes Professor Elisha Qimron of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev is the author of the 120-line MMT reconstruction that was printed on a single page of A Facsimile Edition of the Dead Sea Scrolls, published by the Biblical Archaeology Society (BAS). Therefore, he is the owner of the copyright to the MMT reconstruction.
The court ruled in Qimron’s suit against the Biblical Archaeology Society and BAR editor Hershel Shanks that it was no defense that this MMT reconstruction had been previously published without Qimron’s authorization in a Polish journal or that it had widely circulated among scholars.
Qimron will own the copyright for his lifetime plus 50 years. During that time, this MMT reconstruction cannot be copied without the permission of Qimron or, after his death, his heirs.
This restriction applies both before and after publication, which is expected sometime in the next year.
Although the judge found that Qimron had not shown any economic damage from the publication, she awarded Qimron 20,000 shekels ($7,407) in “statutory” damages (applicable when no actual damage is proved), 80,000 shekels ($29,630) for the mental anguish he suffered and 50,000 shekels ($18,519) in attorneys’ fees, for a total of approximately $55,000. Qimron had sued for nearly a quarter million dollars.
As of this writing, BAS’s lawyers are studying the court’s opinion to determine whether to appeal the ruling to Israel’s Supreme Court. A complete report on the case will appear in the next issue of BAR (see “Qimron Wins Lawsuit,” BAR 19:04).
Qimron Is Author of MMT Reconstruction, Jerusalem Court Holds
