The new Joyce children's book...The Cats of Copenhagen

Joyceans have been venting this week on the weird way in which a letter from Joyce for the pleasure of his grandson has come into very expensive print. We can only think that the grandson, who has been a jealous guardian of his copyright, will take legal action. To do so in respect of the novels is now beyond his control, but I wonder if he has rights in relation to a text that has been until now unpublished? My question is a genuinely open one. I'm no copyright lawyer.  Does anyone know?

As a potential buyer of this book, I'm outraged by the transparently commercial nature of the event. €300 for a short children's book is rich!  Nothing philanthropic about Ithys Press.

Also outraged are the James Joyce Foundation in Zurich, to whom the letter in which the story had appeared had been entrusted by Joyce's son's second wife 8 years ago. The Foundation is understandably annoyed that a researcher transcribed the letter and published it without seeking permission. Scholars need to be bound by codes of ethics and of course many do things and promise things that are on the dodgy side.  What were the motives of the academic, one wonders?  Were they altruistic, or opportunistic? Perhaps both? And why had the Foundation not sought to publish themselves?  And lept in as soon as the copyright lapsed on 1 January? It's a shame that a conversation about publication was not had between all the parties with a vested interest.

Unhappily, the underhand activities of the transcriber and overpriced goods are a direct outcome of copyright laws, and in this particular case, arise because Stephen James Joyce has been so energetic and intransigent about exercising his legal rights. Bloomsday in Melbourne had a slight brush with him in 2004 when we took a play which had some Joyce passages  in it to Dublin and had to replace them (but that's another story). I declare my hand because I do have an axe to grind.

It seems to me that Joyce and his immediate family no longer need the royalties and the grandson has done well from them, so why can't these works that so enrich our lives not be more readily available? Joyce belongs to the world, not just to those with very deep pockets. I'm also disappointed that the  superb digital edition of the Pola notebook is not available for buying from the National Library of Ireland. Same problem. I wish I knew what the answer to these copyright conundrums is. There is a c6 ancient Irish legal dispute about a monk's right to copy a manuscript which generated a wise saw in defence of the monk and against his abbot: 'To every cow its calf; to every manuscript its copy.'  It's a form of reasoning that is close to nature and the earth, and a world away from commercial imperatives. I find it an elegant resolution.

Let's know what you think, and if you know what copyright law dictates in the matter of unpublished manuscripts.