Old MA Christ has died

Well it does to the people who post here... dispassionate and reasoned debate, with a good deal of humour thrown in for good measure.

Moderators: Dom Perignon, Casimir

Post Reply
dmu3tem
Posts: 261
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 3:11 pm
Location: Frozen North

Old MA Christ has died

Post by dmu3tem »

Could anyone tell me who holds the copyright for the 'old' Memorial Acclamation No. 1: Christ has died... ?

I note that it is used in the 1973 ICEL translations and by inference incorporated by them in their copyright notice for the whole Mass text. The C. of E. do the same thing with Order I of Holy Communion in Common Worship. So do they jointly hold the right? Or is it someone else 'behind' them?

I also note it is not amongst the texts listed on the ELLC (old ICET) website.

Many thanks,

Thomas Muir
T.E.Muir
Southern Comfort
Posts: 2024
Joined: Sat Feb 23, 2008 12:31 pm

Re: Old MA Christ has died

Post by Southern Comfort »

There is no copyright in the acclamation "Christ has died".

No one knows with any certainty who wrote it, but it is reputed to be by an Anglican clergyman taking part in the World Council of Churches meeting in New Delhi in 1961. From there it spread into experimental Anglican services during the mid-1960s and later (remember "Series 3", etc?), formed part of the four Eucharistic Prayers in Holy Communion Rite A of the Church of England's Alternative Service Book (1980), and still appears in Common Worship today, as Thomas rightly points out.

ICEL encountered it in those experimental Anglican services and "borrowed" it for the English version of the Order of Mass (1969/70), and thus it appeared in the 1973 translation of the Roman Missal. The old, bad ICEL administrators did claim copyright in it, and charged publishers and others to use it. Some publishers refused to do so on the grounds that the author of the text was anonymous and therefore the text was effectively in the public domain, but most people had no idea that ICEL were making a fast buck out of it. I think that today ICEL would not attempt to claim copyright in it or charge anyone to use it.
dmu3tem
Posts: 261
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 3:11 pm
Location: Frozen North

Re: Old MA Christ has died

Post by dmu3tem »

Many thanks for this information. Just what the doctor ordered.
T.E.Muir
Post Reply