Vatican radio given legal rights to Pope Benedict's voice

VATICAN CITY, Vatican, September 2 - The Vatican announced today that Pope Benedict XVI has legally entrusted Vatican Radio with the copyright and intellectual property rights to all of his voice recordings--even those made prior to his election to the papacy.

Vatican radio will now hold exclusive rights to the broadcasting and protection of these and future recordings, with the exception however, of those already legitimately in possession of other organizations and groups.

As official radio station of the Holy See, Vatican radio, according to article 15 of its own statute, will have the duty to compile, store and administer the audio archive of the Holy Father's voice.

Vatican radio, which can be heard in some 40 languages around the world today, was founded under the oversight of Pope Pius XI in 1931 in an effort to help the Church evangelize with modern means to the contemporary world.

In June of this year, Pope Benedict made a similar arrangement with the Vatican publishing house, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, to be given legal rights over all of his written works before and after his election as pontiff.