Correction: Cowart et al. (2023). Should Pharma Companies Waive Their COVID-19 Vaccine Patents? A Legal and Ethical Appraisal. Laws 12: 47

In the original publication (Cowart et al. 2023), (Kurzweil 2021) and (Hendel 2016) were not cited. The citations have now been inserted in Section 1 and Section 3, and should read:

Section 1

One of Albert Einstein’s remarks is engraved near his statue in front of the National Academy of Sciences in Washington: “The right to search for truth implies also a duty; one must not conceal any part of what one has recognized to be true.” This sentence highlights two opposing approaches to scientific discovery: the concealment approach, which recognizes the right to secrecy in respect of acquired knowledge, and the disclosure approach, which holds that all acquired knowledge is a public resource and that there is a moral obligation to disclose it for the advancement of mankind (Kurzweil 2021).

Section 3

The Babylonian Talmud explains that the Mishnah is dealing with professionals, those with specialized knowledge in the workings of the Temple in Jerusalem who refused to disclose their professional secrets: the Garmo family knew how to bake special bread that would remain fresh for a long time; the Avtinas family knew how to light the incense in a special way; Hugras ben Levi knew how to sing in a special way; Ben Kamtzar knew a special calligraphy. The requirement of the religious leadership at that time was that craftsmen should disclose their secrets because, “Everything that God created was created for His own honor. As it is written: ‘Everything has been created in My name and in My honor’” (Yoma 38a). This religious approach emphasizes the fact that natural resources are universal because they were created by God. Therefore, it is not right to attach them exclusively to a particular party (Hendel 2016). This applies to all physical resources, and all the more so to a resource that has medical and curative potential. As related in the Babylonian Talmud in the treatise Avoda Zara:

Rabbi Yoḥanan suffered from the illness tzafdina, which affects the teeth and gums. He went to a certain gentile matron who was a well-known healer. She prepared a medicine for him on Thursday and Friday. Rabbi Yoḥanan said to her: What shall I do tomorrow, on Shabbat, when I cannot come to collect the medicine from you? She said to him: You will not need it. Rabbi Yoḥanan asked her: If I do need it, what shall I do? She said to him: Take an oath to me that you will not reveal the remedy, and I will tell you so that you can prepare it yourself should you need it. Rabbi Yoḥanan took an oath to her: To the God of the Jews, I will not reveal it. She revealed the remedy to him. On the following day Rabbi Yoḥanan went out and taught it publicly, revealing the secret of the remedy.

According to the second opinion, by committing suicide, the woman was protesting against Rabbi Yochanan’s ethical approach, which favored the public interest over an individual’s rights to his property. The two results, suicide or conversion, reflect different positions on the question of justifying expropriation of intellectual property for the sake of the public interest. The Jerusalem Talmud, which exceptionally offers two polar opposite results regarding a single event, expresses the position of an unresolved ethical dilemma (Kurzweil 2021).

The authors state that the scientific conclusions are unaffected. This correction was approved by the Academic Editor. The original publication has also been updated.