IN-PERSON London Heritages. Section A

Abstract

This presentation takes a critical heritage studies perspective on §51 of the Swedish Copyright Act, which prohibits the rendering of a classical work ‘in a way that offends the interests of spiritual cultivation’ (SFS 1960:729). This so called ‘protection of classics’ was formulated in the 1950s to protect classical works against derogatory interpretations, such as popular cultural adaptions. More recently §51 has been used to prevent the use of canonical works in commercial and nationalist contexts. The presentation will discuss how the protection of classics straddles the border between intellectual property law and heritage protection and uses the tools of property regulations to safeguard works considered part of a universal cultural heritage. In that regard the protection of classics changes the perspective of intellectual property from that of protecting individual ownership to that of expressing a collective cultural belonging. On the one hand the presentation will take a historical approach and explore the origins of §51 and how it relates to the discourse on cultural policy and heritage of the mid 20 century. On the other hand it will focus particularly on a recent case where the protection of classics was utilise to prevent the use of works by of three romantic authors on a National socialist website.