Remix Rules of the 13th Century

LEFT: Saint Bonaventure, by Claude François (Frère Luc) (here)

"A man might write the works of others, adding and changing nothing, in which case he is simply called a 'scribe' (scriptor).

"Another writes the work of others with additions which are not his own; and he is called a 'compiler' (compilator).

"Another writes both others' work and his own, but with others' work in principal place, adding his own for purposes of explanation; and he is called a ‘commentator’ (commentator).

"....Another writes both his own work and others' but with his own work in principal place adding others for purposes of confirmation; and such a man should be called an 'author' (auctor)."

- Saint Bonaventure, 13th Century Franciscan (d. 1274), via Moby Dick Remixed: Appropriation as a New Media Literacy (Anna van Someren)

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Entrance Song for the Feast of Saint Bonaventure
Feast Day: July 15

"The learned will shine like the brilliance of the firmament, and those who train many in the ways of justice will sparkle like the stars for all eternity." --Daniel 12:3
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"The current emphasis on digital remixing makes visible the degree to which all cultural expression builds on what has come before."
-Henry Jenkins, 21st century
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There was no copyright law until 1709's Statute of Anne, in GB. But there had been wrangles much earlier.

Reputedly in 557 A.D. Abbot Finnian of Moville and St. Columba disputed over St. Columba's copying of a Psalter belonging to an Abbot. The dispute over ownership of the copy led to the Battle of Cúl Dreimhne (also known as the Battle of Cooldrumman), in which 3,000 men were killed.

And in 1623 a setting of the Psalms, by the composer Salomone Rossi, included a rabbinical curse on anyone who copied the contents.

(Wikipedia, History of Copyright Law)