Date: Thu, 26 Mar 1998 07:57:10 -0700
From: Kristen Maaherra <urantian@concentric.net>
To:
Subject: Update -- Arizona Lawsuit, from Kristen Maaherra
 

Arizona Lawsuit Update From Kristen Maaherra - 23 March 1998

Motions Denied:

Judge Urbom's "Memorandum and Order on Pending Motions for Attorney Fees and For Leave to File Exhibits" denied both motions. (Had proceedings been reopened, we would have withdrawn the Motion for Attorney Fees, since we lost at the Appeal Court level.)

Judge Urbom's decision did not entail any analysis. Because the Appeal Court ruling claimed that humans "created" the Urantia Book by selecting, editing, and arranging the text, the exhibits were statements by members of the contact commission, forum, and early trustees concerning selection, arrangement, or editing of the text of the Urantia Papers. Basically, all the exhibits state that humans had jurisdiction over "spelling, capitalization, and punctuation" – period.

Curiously, Judge Urbom gave no indication as to the future proceedings that will be held. You remember, I lost the lawsuit when the Foundation appealed the case to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The Appeal Court sent the case back to Judge Urbom to determine the damages arising out of copyright infringement and to place on me the permanent injunction the Foundation is asking for. As I understand it, what happens next is that Judge Urbom will call a status conference, then a pre-trial hearing, then a hearing on the Foundation's final requests.

In determining the scope of the injunction (if any), Judge Urbom will be interpreting the Appeal Court Opinion – which could be interesting. On the other hand, Judge Urbom's injunction could be much more limiting than the settlement the Foundation has already offered me.

Settlement Talks Continue:

You remember that Mo Siegel, before he became a trustee, was instrumental in settling the Colorado litigation (which I always thought of as "Eric's" lawsuit, even though we were both named on the suit).

The trademark settlement in the Colorado lawsuit granted "safe harbors" to all Urantians who want to use the Banner of Michael and the words Urantia and Urantian in their religion.

Michelle Klimesh e-mailed me today: "Can you help clarify this? Matthew Rappaport wrote this after a conversation with Mo." (The trustees were in S.F. and Portland this week).

Matthew: "One last note of interest... Mo said that had Kristen not backed out of the settlement she originally signed, every WEB operator who wanted to could, this very day, put up a copy of the UB for distribution via the WEB (so long as they didn't *sell* it), and do it legally, with the permission of the UF, analogous to freeware software licenses. I'm not sure why Kristen's backing out nullifies the deal for everyone else at this point, but that is what he said."

My understanding of the situation is that newly appointed trustee Mo Siegel and I have continued to discuss a possible settlement of the Arizona litigation. I have not signed any settlement with the Foundation yet.

Mo FAXed over a settlement agreement which Foundation President, Rich Keeler, had signed February 10, 1998. This agreement included:

1. the Foundation purchasing and granting a blanket license to the DOS FolioViews index; 2. the Foundation providing free-of-charge a copy of the index to anyone with a Urantia Papers based web site who requests it – with a blanket licence to give it away; 3. a statement by the trustees of the superhuman authorship of the Urantia Papers to be filed with the court (mainly taken from the quotes on the dust jacket); 4. the Foundation waiving rights to monetary damages, statutory copyright damages, and attorney's fees; 5. the Foundation waiving rights to permanent injunctive relief from acts of copyright infringement; 6. Maaherra agreeing to abide by the terms of the Permission-to-Quote Policy (the 1000 word limit).

I suppose at first glance this may seem like a nice offer. But, in reality, the Foundation offers me nothing. Here is my thinking:

Money: The money could never be enough. I'm already bankrupt and owe my (earth) father and my lawyer more than I can possibly pay back during the rest of my life. Plus the Foundation ruined 7 years of my life; my children grew up with the stress of their mother being sued for giving away an index of a religious book that was said to be authored by superhumans. As Mo has told me, "It never should have happened." But it did happen.

License: The Foundation has no right to give me a license to use the revelator's words. Only the revelators have a right to grant a "license" to quote them. Plus why do I need a license to give away the FolioViews index? As the kids say, "Been there, done that." Anyone who wanted the FolioViews index probably already has one. Also, DOS versions of FolioViews are obsolete. And you can buy a perfectly good Windows FolioViews index on CD now from the Foundation.

Web Use: The Urantia Papers are already on the Internet, in many places, in many different formats, with many different search engines.

Statement of Superhuman Authorship: I've always stood up for the superhuman authorship of the Urantia Papers. The Foundation can "set the record straight" without my signature; they can always file such a document with the Court, or the Copyright Office, or anywhere else.

"Permission" to Quote: Again, I believe that the Foundation has no right to tell me I can only use 1000 of the Divine Counselor's words, or 1000 of the Mighty Messenger's words, or 1000 of a Melchizedek's words.

Here is my "counter-offer" to the trustees: Forget giving me money, or a license. And if you insist that I limit my use of the revelation to 1000 words, why not request that Judge Urbom resume active proceedings – get that injunction slapped on me good and hard. God willing, I will never "sign away" my rights to the revelation, or recognize that the Foundation's job is anything but to print and distribute the revelation. Here, again, is what I've suggested to Mo:

"Hi, again, Mo! It was really nice talking to you on the phone again today. I feel you're committed to changes in Foundation policies.

And since I believe that, and since you and I have gone "back to the drawing board" regarding the Settlement Agreement, I'll try to outline exactly what I think as precisely as possible.

 Overview: I never intended to challenge the copyright; my aim was always to disseminate the Urantia Papers.

Under the United States Constitution, slavery was thought legal. Then, a new group decided that the Constitution says slavery is not legal.

 Construe the Trust: In this same way, it is entirely appropriate for the new board of trustees to take this opportunity to construe the trust.

The Declaration of Trust is not a religious document, it is a legal document. What are your duties as trustees?

 Practical Solutions: The trustees go sit in a room.

They read the Declaration of Trust.

They come out of the meeting with, "We think the Declaration of Trust means this, and this, and this."

 For Example: 1. The Declaration of Trust means that what disseminates the revelation is allowed.

2. Anything that meets the standards of inviolate text is given a blanket permission.

3. The copyright is used to immediately prohibit anything that violates that standard. Violations are vigorously pursued in a court of law.

 Everyone Wins: And the revelation wins.

The trustees don't give up any power, but they exercise it in a benign way – which is what you seem to want.

Legally, trademarks require rigorous control – but copyright does not. The trustees can (with copyright) consent without licensing. (Which, as you know from our discussions, is important to me).

This would be a policy reasonable to Urantian evangelists, and should also satisfy Urantians whose main concern is to "protect the text."

My last hesitations about settling under such an Agreement would be swept away if Joe Lewis would be able to keep all his files (in case the Urantia Foundation ever decides to sue me again.)

Mo, what do you think?

Love, and God bless you, Kristen Maaherra"

 
And that, dear friends, is the update. Thank you again for your letters, phone calls, donations, and prayers.

Please keep Judge Urbom in your prayers. And the trustees. Pray that God's will be done for our wonderful revelation – God's gift to this troubled little planet.