Denver Business Journal Article
On October 13, 1996, Ian Olgerson, Business Journal Staff Reporter, wrote an article about Eric which appeared on page 5A of the Denver Business Journal:
RELIGIOUS GROUP SUES INTERNET PUBLISHER
The publication of heavenly documents in cyberspace is being disputed in the terrestrial domain of the courts.
The Urantia Foundation, a Chicago-based, new age religious group, filed charges against a Boulder County couple for violating copyright laws by publishing the Urantia Book on the Internet and using the Urantian symbol of three blue, concentric circles.
Eric Schaveland of Jamestown, Colorado, readily admits he has published the entire text of the Urantia papers, considered by followers as divine scriptures, on his home page on the World Wide Web. However, he feels the text is part of the public domain.
"I've got the entire text so people can download it on the Internet," he said.
Schaveland, who hasn't decided to hire a lawyer at this time, said he doesn't know why the foundation filed the suit in U.S. District Court Aug. 27.
"I think they are crazy," he said. "I don't know. I can't think of a logical reason."
He speculates that the foundation is trying to tie him up in court to prevent him from publishing the Urantia book on compact disc with a search engine and multimedia presentation.
Counsel for the foundation did not return phone calls seeking comment.
This isn't the first scrape Schaveland has had with the religious organization. Last year, the foundation lost a fight with his wife, Kristen Maaherra, in a dispute over the use of Urantian material. U.S. District Court in Arizona declared the foundation's renewal of the copyright on the Urantia Book invalid.
Other parts of the case were later settled, and the foundation has appealed the decision.
"Trademarking the circles is like trademarking the cross," said Maaherra, who also is named in the most recent suit, although she said she has nothing to do with the Internet publishing.
Schaveland currently offers the Urantia text for downloading on his no-frills home page, www.urantia-papers.org/, that features the symbol of three blue circles.
He originally published the text on a page with the domain name, urantia.com, but the foundation, which uses urantia.org, pressured the agency in charge of allocating domain names into freezing its access.
(End of September 13-19, 1996, Article from Denver Business Journal).
Last Updated April 9, 1997 by Kristen Maaherra