Those hoping to use images or quotes from the Pope on their blogs may soon be answering to the Vatican’s newly created committee on copyright.
The head of the Catholic Church determined that the original copyright law, which was put into effect by Pope John XXIII in 1960, needed to be updated in order to take changing forms of media into account.
Due to the "greater ease of dissemination of data currently provided by Internet technologies”, the Vatican is taking steps to protect the image and teachings of the pontiff from nefarious bloggers.
The Catholic Church will not impede the free dissemination of the Pope’s words, but they will reserve the right to demand correction or removal of articles that have been used for commercial purposes or without permission.
The Vatican is certainly not against utilizing new technological channels. For example, Pope Benedict XVI gave his blessing to social networking and the beatification of Pope John Paul II will be live streamed online. The Vatican is even inviting Catholic bloggers to Rome for a conference on May 2nd, the day after John Paul II's beatification.
The new Pontifical Commission will, however, ensure that what is published online and offline maintains the integrity of the original message.
