The Melting Pot of Copyright Law: Urheberrecht in Jerusalem

Abstract

This article tells the story of the first copyright case litigated in Israel, in 1950-54. At stake were the writings of no less than Theodor Herzl (1860-1904), commonly referred to as the Visionary of the Jewish State. The dispute, which thus far has not been discussed in the literature, was about ownership: who controlled the writings of the Zionist leader, fifty years after his death? The case forced the court to investigate publishing contracts that were made under German law and fit them into the local (Israeli-British) law. The commercial dispute between two publishers encapsulated and reflected multiple tensions, between an individual whose life work was at stake and a powerful institution; between private ownership of writings of substantial importance and public ownership; between the image of the European Jew and the new, Hebrew Jewish person; between German and Hebrew. All tensions were transformed into a legal discourse, where a foreign law found its way into a local legal framework. The case was dramatic, but ended up in an anti-climax. This unusual litigation provides us with a window to trace the meeting of two different legal cultures, at a highly sensitive time.