I have uploaded a new paper. It is entitled "Intellectual Property in Early Buddhism: A Legal and Cultural Perspective." It is an extended and revised version of a paper I presented at the International Buddhist Conference (2012 Feb.), Buddhasravaka Bhiksu University, Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, and the abstract is as follows:
"In this paper, I examine the modern concepts of intellectual property, and account for their significance in monastic law and culture of early Buddhism. As a result, I have come to the following conclusions:
1. The infringement of copyrights, patents, and trademarks does not amount to theft as far as Theravadin Vinaya is concerned.
2. A trademark infringement involves telling a deliberate lie, so entails an offense of expiation (paacittiya), but I cannot find any Vinaya rule which is transgressed by copyright and patent infringements.
3. The Buddha did recognize the right to intellectual credit, but owing to the commentaÂrial interpretations, some traditional circles have come to maintain that intellectual credit can be transferred to someone else."
As I intend to send it to a scholarly journal, I must state as usual that all rights are reserved. All comments are hearily welcome.