Battle rages over copyright of Joyce children's story
The expiry of the copyright covering James Joyce’s published works has sparked an argument over one of his children’s stories, The Cats of Copenhagen.
The argument centres on the publication of the story by a small Irish publisher, Ithys Press. The Zurich James Joyce Foundation has said such publication is illegal; the foundation owns the letter which contains the story.
However, Ithys Press has described the Joyce Foundation’s accusations as “preposterous”, saying in a statement on the publisher’s website that the foundation has “no rights” over the copyright of the material.
The statement continued: “As there was no requirement for ‘permission’ for the publication of Cats from the Zurich centre, on legal advice none was sought. To seek permission can be construed as prima facie evidence that permission is required.”
Ithys Press has stated that the book was conceived not as a commercial venture but as a tribute to “a rather different Joyce, the family man and grandfather who was a fine storyteller”. Twenty-six lettered copies of the book will be sold for €1200 each.
The story, which had previously remained unpublished, comes from a letter that Joyce wrote to his grandson. The publisher has described the story as being the “twin sister” of the only other children’s story written by Joyce, The Cat and the Devil.
