Adams and bits: Of Jewish kings and copyrights (Reprinted from S. Cal. L. Rev, vol 71, pg 219, 1998)

News Item: Fire swept last night through the converted grain silo that Naom i Marra has called home for the past three decades. Though the celebrated p oetess escaped uninjured, the blaze consumed her estate completely. Feared lost among the charred ruins is the last extant copy of her lyric ode, Ruth less Boat. Legions of Marra devotees have expressed the earnest hope that, following her many public declamations of the work, most or all of it may r emain preserved in her memory. Critics lament the loss as one of the heavie st to hit the world of belies lettres since the Arno flooded its banks in 1 966.