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With the quarrels done, Xavier will now come to the podium.
"Lords and ladies, priests and heroes, burghers and commons of the convention."
"I was proud of Galt, once. I was proud that there was a people inside Cheliax prepared to throw off Asmodean tyranny, to choose their own leaders and fight to break the stranglehold of Hell on their souls.
"I was proud of their ideals. That men could choose their own destiny, that truth must always be spoken whatever the cost, that there were absolute rights possessed of all men, and that with these rights mere mortals untrained in war could take the fight to the gates of Hell itself. For a long time, I was proud.
"Yet we know where these ideals lead them - to riot, and terror, and the deaths of the innocent. I joined the Committee on Rights to preserve what I could of the virtues that inspired them, but with the crisis at hand I see the problem before us all too well. On the Third of Sarenrith our city burned because of lies. A handful of men who desired a riot caused one by taking inflammatory words, removing the few calls to reason within them and using them to set our city alight. Fools and murderers read these words and trusted them, and the blood they spilled flowed like a river.
The Terrible Third must never happen again. I was a supporter of freedom of the pen. I am no longer. It serves well in Axis. It will not serve in Cheliax. Pamphleteering in Westcrown is not a way to expose Asmodean lies or speak the truths that men fear to speak, it is a blood sport.
"For this purpose the Rights Committee has voted on a proposal to present to this convention to end pamphlets and pamphleteering, placing explicit limits on freedom of the pen and making all authors answerable for what they write. I do not bring this before the convention because I desire it, but because it is needed. Works approved by our Lawful allies and subjects, works approved by Her Majesty, and words that serious and sober men with the funds to pay for the damages will stake their lives on - these will be permitted. The words of Bernat Espinosa-Vidal? Never.
And then he'll read the full text.
In recognition of the enormous harm that has been, and is ongoingly, done by the publication of vile slanders, insinuations, radical materials, and advocacy both mistaken and malicious:
It is forbidden to publish or distribute written material in Cheliax unless it is marked with an Arcane Mark of the creator or publisher and a note of the Statute under which it is permitted, of which eight are henceforth enumerated, with the Queen or a future legislative body permitted to add others. A work is considered kept private as long as it is not distributed outside a small audience, not read in a public square or public house, not put on display outside a private domicile, and not made available for sale. Some work is permitted as long as it is kept private, which is not permitted to be published or distributed.
Definitions used herein:
A work is considered kept private as long as it is not distributed outside a small audience, not read in a public square or public house, not put on display outside a private domicile, and not made available for sale. Some work is permitted as long as it is kept private, which is not permitted to be published or distributed.
An audience of eight people or fewer is considered a small audience for all purposes. Larger sizes may be judged small for certain purposes by statute or precedent.
Firstly, all material is permitted by the First Publication Statute of Cheliax if the publication of the material is permitted under the law in those Chelish provinces and allied states where the Rule of Law is strong, that is presently Lastwall, Molthune, and Osirion, and the material is not modified from the version distributed in those countries, unless Her Majesty issues a decree to the contrary. Material which has been permitted under the law in other friendly states with similar laws, currently Absalom, Galt, and the Thuvian city-states, for a period of five years without its legal status being challenged is also permitted under the same conditions.
Secondly, Secondly, material is permitted by the Second Publication Statute of Cheliax if the material is published by a licit and authorized publishing house, and marked with an Arcane Mark on each page of a copyist registered with that publishing house, that it may be attributed to a man who is fully legally liable for any lawless consequences of its distribution.
Thirdly, material is permitted by the Third Publication Statute of Cheliax if the material contains no political, social or religious commentary, and would not be identified by any reasoned observer to be attempting to make a political, social or religious argument; for instance it is a book of Accounts, a book of Recipes, a book of Apothecarie, or an announcement of an event (the latter being permitted presuming the event to be itself permitted, and illicit if the event is a lawless gathering). It is unlawful to mark a book as permitted under this statute if it adopts the form of a book of Accounts, Recipes, etc. to make a political, social or religious argument; in any case where a work is even ambiguously of political, social, or religious effect it must seek authorization under some other statute.
Fourthly, material is permitted by the Fourth Publication Statute of Cheliax if approved by any board of censors appointed by the Crown. No such board exists and this Law does not create one; but should one in the future be created any materials it authorized would be legal under this Law.
Fifthly, the right to know the Law being fundamental to a Lawful society, any book or printing of the Law in which the law is not abridged or modified is legal under the Fifth Publication Statute of Cheliax.
Sixthly, in order to protect our existing booksellers from bankruptcy, works of at least twenty pages originally published before Sarenith 1 4714 are permitted with conditions. Wizards not authorized as publishers may put their Arcane Marks to such works under the Sixth Publication Statute of Cheliax and make further copies, which they may Personally sell, so long as their purchasers keep such works private and do not resell them. Resellers violate the Sixth Publication Statute unless they have the works authorized under another statute first. Works which have been outlawed by a decree of the Crown or law from a future legislative body, such as the Asmodean Disciplines, lose this protection from the date the decree or law is promulgated.
Seventhly, A licensed library, initially including those owned and operated by the Crown, is permitted by the Seventh Statute to place books on display and make them available to the public, and permit a large audience. Other library licenses are issued like publishing licenses, with the same requirements for a proprietor, bond of surety, and acknowledgements, as well as the punishments. Licensed libraries must affix an Arcane Mark registered with their license to books of their collection. Education statutes are permitted to establish other licensed libraries.
Eighthly, Petitions to the Queen, or to other nobility by any within their lands, may be written and sent regardless of content or status of the author or scribe, and may be read by the intended recipient and any of their servants or staff, regardless of number. It may be partially or wholly mistaken, or make accusations which cannot be substantiated and still be protected as part of the right of petition. Intercepting such a petition is illegal and if its contents are published, the publisher, not the author, is liable as for publishing any other work.
For a publishing house to obtain authorization to publish in Cheliax, it must have a single, identified proprietor, in whose name the license is issued, and who acknowledges the following:
He is a Subject of Her Majesty and means to abide by Her laws
He has placed a bond of Six Thousand Gold Pieces against the possibility of chaos and destruction brought about by the works he publishes, either with the state or with the Church of Abadar, which will be returned to him thirty days following the closure of his publication house unless damages result, and seized to pay damages should damages result;
He is further liable for damages from the works he publishes if they exceed Six Thousand Gold Pieces, and is liable up to the seizure of all of his properties, and if capital crimes are incited by works he publishes, he is liable for death;
'Damages' in this statute refer only to harms monetary and personal that result from the publication being determined slanderous or libelous, or from Lawless acts which the publications advocated, directly or by implication; enabled, by instruction in how to carry out or evade detection for a lawless act, including harms resulting from lawless acts that the publication enabled by making it known that some other individuals had called for violence, or predicted it, or believe the gods to advise it, or believe it would solve Cheliax's ills, or by any other phrasing suggest it to the advantage of another person to commit criminal acts. Should a publication cause monetary damages by some other mechanism than inspiring, encouraging or enabling criminal acts - for instance by the promotion of a business at the expense of a competitor- the publishing house shall not be liable.The distribution or copying of works which are not marked with an Arcane Mark indicating under which statute they are authorized, is henceforth illegal, and punishable with 30 days' imprisonment, a fine of up to 1gp per page of illegal commentary distributed, and liability civil and criminal for all illegal conduct inspired by those works. Falsely marking a work as authorized under a Statute which does not permit its distribution is henceforth illegal, and punishable with the destruction of the spellbook used to so mark the work, with a sentence of up to hard labor, with a fine of up to 1gp per page of illegal commentary distributed, and liability civil and criminal for all illegal conduct inspired by those works.
The possession of works which are not marked with an Arcane Mark indicating under which statute they are authorized, is legal, if those works are kept private. Personal correspondence, personal notes and records, transcripts of the meetings of the government at any level and in any form (incl. city councils, constitutional conventions, legislatures of a town, city, or larger area where they exist, &c), transcripts of sermons, business records, &c, may be produced and copied without authorization, provided they are kept private.
The possession of works which are marked with an Arcane Mark indicating under which statute they are authorized is legal, even if that mark was made contrary to the law, except where directly forbidden by decree of the Crown.
