Battle of Cúl Dreimhne

The Battle of Cúl Dreimhne - also known as the "Battle of the Book" - took place in the tuath des Cairbre Drom Cliabh in Ireland . The place of the event is probably identical to today's Cooldrumman ( Irish Cúil na Dromann ) in the Civil Parish Drumcliff ( Droim Chliabh ) in today's County Sligo . The date of the fight is passed down differently: It varies between 555 and 561 AD. The battle, which is said to have left around 3,000 dead and injured, is known to be one of the earliest conflicts in the field of copyright .

According to the stories, the Irish abbot and missionary Columban of Iona was involved in a dispute with Saint Finnian (495-589) of Movilla Abbey around the year 560 . The subject of the dispute was a psalter which was handwritten copied by Columban, who worked in the scriptorium under Saint Finnian. Columban wanted to keep this copy he had made. Saint Finnian refused to do so because he was the owner of the original. King Diarmait mac Cerbaill († around 565) arbitrated this dispute and decided that “every cow belongs to its calf and therefore to every book its copy.” Columban did not agree with this award and rebelled successfully with his Uí-Néill clan against the king.

In recent research this cause of the conflict has been disputed: for example, it is not credible with regard to the “ realpolitik ” of the 6th century and is not mentioned in sources prior to 1532.

Web links

Ruth Suehle: The story of St. Columba: A modern copyright battle in sixth century Ireland. opensource.com, June 9, 2011 (English).; accessed on July 12, 2020

Individual evidence

↑ logainm.ie
↑ Andrew Ó Baoill: The true significance of the world's first copyright ruling in its context and for contemporary debate on intellectual property . In: Funeral . (English, online [PDF; 98 kB ; accessed on July 12, 2020]).
^ The Cathach / The Psalter of St Columba. Royal Irish Academy , archived from the original on July 2, 2014 ; accessed on July 12, 2020 (English).
^ Brian Lacey: The Battle of Cúl Dreimne: A Reassessment. In: The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. Vol. 133, 2003, p. 78 ( online ).

[1] .ie

[2] Andrew Ó Baoill: The true significance of the world's first copyright ruling in its context and for contemporary debate on intellectual property . In: Funeral . (English, online [PDF; 98 kB ; accessed on July 12, 2020]).

[3] The Cathach / The Psalter of St Columba. Royal Irish Academy , archived from the original on July 2, 2014 ; accessed on July 12, 2020 (English).

[4] Brian Lacey: The Battle of Cúl Dreimne: A Reassessment. In: The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. Vol. 133, 2003, p. 78 ( online ).