Copyright and Mahayana Buddhist Sutras

I thought to write on this topic after reading the following, from the Wikipedia page on the Diamond Sutra:

It is also the first known creative work with an explicit public domain dedication, as its colophon at the end states that it was created “for universal free distribution”

Looking into the matter, this is somewhat misleading. “It” refers not to the sutra itself, but to a specific print edition of the sutra (which is the world’s oldest printed book!). On the last page, it gives the year of its publication, followed by the dedication.

Perhaps someone with better Chinese skills than me can help me out with this. It’s a little hard to read, but I think the dedication says: 二親敵造普施. (The character which I think is 敵 is especially hard to make out – any ideas?)

I don’t know what 二 (“two”) signifies. 親敵, although I can’t find any instances of it being actually used in this way online, could plausibly mean “friends and enemies”. 造 is “to make”, with a nuance of physical production. The last two characters are of clearly spiritual import; 普 means “universal” – it is often used in invocations after Buddhist ceremonies, wishing that the good karma from the ceremony be spread “universally” to every being in the universe. 施 means (among other things) generically to “give”, but in the context of Chinese translations of Buddhist texts, refers specifically to the notion of Dāna. This is “giving” or “charity” with karmic significance and includes “giving” spiritual wisdom by transmitting Buddhist teachings.

In short, it seems to me that what the publisher is really saying is, “I publish this book for the spiritual benefit of every being in the universe, whether friend or enemy”. So this colophon did not prove fertile ground for a discussion of copyright and the public domain.

But the Diamond Sutra, and many other Mahayana sutras, contain, as an integral part of their text, exhortations to copy, cause others to copy, and distribute the scripture. Not a colophon or an attached licence – the scripture itself says, “copy this book”. Here are some selected quotations from the Lotus Sutra (there are many more):

• You should know that after the parinirvāṇa of the Tathāgata, those who copy, preserve, recite, and revere this sutra and expound it for the sake of others will be clothed with the Tathāgata’s garments and treasured by the present buddhas of the other directions.
• Among the many people, either among the laity or the ordained, who practice the bodhisattva path, if they are unable to see, hear, recite, copy, preserve, and pay homage to this Lotus Sutra, know that they are people who are not yet properly practicing the bodhisattva path.
• This is indeed a difficult matter. Make a great vow accordingly! … It is not difficult for anyone to grasp empty space and wander around with it. But it will certainly be difficult to copy and preserve this sutra and cause others to copy it.
• Therefore, we will produce the power of great patience and recite, preserve, teach, and copy this sutra as well as pay it homage in various ways…
• After the Tathāgata’s parinirvāṇa we will roam throughout the worlds of the ten directions enabling sentient beings to copy, preserve, and recite this [Lotus] Sutra
• In the future world, when the Dharma is to be extinguished, this bodhisattva mahāsattva… will copy it after teaching it, and enable others to copy, respect, honor, praise, and pay homage to the [Lotus] Sutra.
• How much more merit will they gain who extensively hear this sutra, move others to listen to it, preserve it, move others to preserve it, copy it, or move others to copy it; and pay homage to the sutra by offering flowers, incense, necklaces, flags, banners, canopies, lamps of scented oil, and ghee!
• [Those who] despise, hate, and hold grudges against the people who recite, copy, and preserve [this sutra]; When such people die, they will go to the Avīci Hell…

I decided to write my paper (attached) for 20% marks on this topic. I decided to look at two questions:

1. Would these exhortations have any legal effect if in a work published today in Canada under our Copyright Act?
2. Do these exhortations have any effect on the copyright status of modern translations of these sutras – which are, under the Copyright Act, considered original literary works, but of a necessity repeat the words “copy this book”?

As a final matter of curiosity – I did not have space to include this discussion in my paper – I thought a little about what the copyright status of the original work would have been, the implicit “copyleft” portions notwithstanding. Specifically, who had the rights? The scripture is presented mainly in the form of a dialogue between the Buddha and his disciples. But the Buddha probably doesn’t own the rights to his conversation (Gould). The only potential wrinkle is that he keeps referring to his own teachings as “[this] Lotus Sutra”, perhaps implying that it’s not off-the-cuff but a performance of a prepared work. The first words of the scripture are “thus have I heard” – the “I” is traditionally assumed to be the Buddha’s disciple Ananda. Theoretically, we are reading Ananda’s narration. But his narrations were transmitted orally for hundreds of years before finally being written down. Can oral recitation constitute a form of “fixation”? Is the matter complicated by the fact that the recitations are not considered to be, necessarily, verbatim, but have been restructured somewhat to allow for easier memorization? Did Ananda abandon the rights to his narration by allowing – encouraging – it to be re-recited anywhere without restriction?

The point is completely moot as the Lotus Sutra is nearly 2000 years old and its true providence is unknowable anyway, but it’s always easier to write about topics that interest us, isn’t it?