© 1998 Seppo Kanerva, Tonia Baney
© 1998 Urantia Foundation
A monthly News Bulletin from Urantia Foundation to IUA Officers, Foundation Office Managers, Coordinating Committee members, Foundation Representatives, Translators, and other readers for the purpose of disseminating this information to readers in local areas.
Report by Seppo Kanerva
Mr. Paul Jaworsk resident of Australia, and Mr. Eugene Lorens, resident of Japan, both native speakers of the Polish language and members of the newly formed Polish translator team, paid a visit to the Chicago Head Office on 15 to 21 June. The team members met face-to-face for the first time in Chicago and discussed the practicalities of their mutual effort to get The Urantia Book translated into Polish. The Polish team includes also Mr. Jaworski’s wife, Malgomita Jaworski. Their work was initiated only a few months ago. Mr. Lorens is likewise interested in launching a project for a Japanese translation.
The Polish team had talks with Trustees, Georges Michelson-Dupont and Gard Jameson, with the Executive Director, Tonia Baney, and the Foundation staff members.
At the conclusion of their negotiations and discussions with the Trustees, the team members signed translation agreements with the Foundation. As soon as the Polish team had been formed the Foundation received the first donation in support of this project With the Polish effort now taking shape there are twelve ongoing translation undertakings. They include, in order of seniority, German, Italian, Arabic, Korean, Swedish, Lithuanian, Estonian, Portuguese, Chinese, Romanian, and Polish.
We have just returned from the USUA conference in Glen Ivy. The theme was Unity Without Uniformity. The main plenary speakers were Tom Vasile, Gard Jameson, Carolyn Prentice, and Kermit Anderson. Carry Prentice gave a wonderful talk on “Resolution of Conflict Arising from Diversity” and received a standing ovation.
The Glen Ivy community provided a wonderful setting for a conference. Many precious moments were shared among readers and the organizers did a great job of making everyone feel welcome and comfortable. One of the highlights of my experience of this conference weekend were the talks given on the mountain plateau on Saturday night by David Glass and Roy Mooneyham. Plastic tarps were laid down so that we could bring our pillows and blankets to lie flat on our backs and observe the heavens above. What a sight it was to behold; over forty people lying flat on their backs looking up at the heavens! While we gazed at our universe, David Glass described the “big picture” as he stated the numbers of worlds, sectors, major sectors etc., and our minds were expanded by his recital of the immense numbers. Then Roy Mooneyham came on and explained to us exactly where Paradise was in relationship to the constellations we could see in the sky on that evening. I shall never forget the “teapot” and the “scorpion’s tail.”
The conference was financed and organized by the USUA with great assistance by the local IUA members. Fellowship members participated in the conference and the Fellowship’s Executive Committee members who attended participated in leading roles in the worship and study sessions. Many IUA members voiced disappointment in the results. To the mind of many members, leading roles in worship and study given to the Fellowship members by-passed many attending IUA members who have not had previous opportunities to lead. When IUA produces a conference, one of the purposes is to develop speakers, leaders, and teachers. Members felt that if a conference is designed to be a joint project by two organizations, it needs to be promoted as such, and it is then appropriate that leadership roles are evenly shared by members of both organizations. However, if the conference is promoted as an IUA sponsored conference, it is appropriate that the members and individuals supporting that organization be given the responsibility of leadership roles.
The IUA and Fellowship are different organizations and have their own way of communicating. There are ways the two groups can work side by side unity amidst diversity, but the organizers of IUA sponsored conferences need to be mindful of the needs and wishes of the IUA members. The Foundation applauds the efforts to promote unity within the movement, but this unity needs to come from our hearts and cannot be legislated or planned for us. Please, when planning your IUA events, involve as many other IUA leaders on the team as possible in your discussions and decision making.
We wish to note for everyone’s information that T-shirts were made with Urantia Foundation’s and Glen Ivy’s trademarks placed together. Also the conference program folder had a covering page which displayed the trademarks included in an artist’s painting. While both the T-shirts and the folder were tastefully done, we must note that the trademarks are to be used by our licensed organizations as an identifying mark for membership and organizational purposes. We shall soon be producing a trademark manual for our licensed IUAs to use as a guide when displaying the trademarks.
On the last day of the conference there was a panel discussion with questions from the floor. Bruce Porter, President ofUSUA, Janet Farrington, President of the Fellowship, and Gard Jameson, Trustee, were the panel members. Many organizational issues were discussed and it became clear throughout the discussion session that some Fellowship members attending the meeting, including those in leadership positions, believe that in order for the two groups to work in unity, the Foundation needs to release its hold on the copyright and marks and allow the text and the trademarks to be freely used by the public. They feel that this is what will be required in order to resolve the conflicts within the movement and to avoid future lawsuits. It was clear that some do not believe that the copyright and marks should be held by Urantia Foundation, in spite of the fact that the Contact Commission was charged to copyright the text by the Revelatory Commission as early as the 1930’s.
Gard Jameson, in answer to these statements, made it very clear that the Foundation was not like the straw house in the children’s story of the “Three Little Pigs.” He used this metaphor to indicate that the Foundation’s house is built out of bricks and will stand strong and true to its trust to protect the inviolate text of The Urantia Book, and in order to do this it must maintain the copyright and marks. All the Foundation is asking of readers is to recognize the law and conduct their dissemination activities within that law. Gard also emphasized that the Foundation works from a place of wisdom and not fear: to be as wise as serpents but gentle as doves.
The call for unity does not mean that the Foundation will surrender its trust. The choice to cooperate and work with the Foundation has been offered to all readers who share the Foundation’s goals for the revelation. If some individual readers choose only to accept that offer on the condition that we tear down our brick house, then those few readers have essentially chosen not to work with us. To anyone who is willing to abide by the law, recognize our ownership of the copyright and trademarks, and join together to disseminate the teachings to mankind, our doors are always open. Our house is made of bricks, is large enough for many, and can always be expanded.
We want you to know about two letters which have been sent to Janet Farrington, President of the Fellowship.
1. The first letter is to advise the Executive Committee about a violation of the trademarks on their website. Following is a copy of the letter:
Dear Janet,
It has come to our attention that the Fellowship displays on its website a photograph of a boat named the “Urantia Emprise,"a boat which prominently bears the concentric circles on its hull. As you know, the words “Urantia” and “Urantian” and the concentric circles are registered marks of Urantia Foundation.
The Fellowship’s website also advertises that one can sail on the “Urantia Emprise” for a fee. We assume that this is not a money making venture, but it could he construed as a commercial use of the Foundation’s marks if not properly explained Therefore, to comply with what the law requires of us in order to protect the Foundation’s marks, we need the Fellowship’s help. Would you be so kind as to display the following disclaimer on each page of the Fellowship’s website which displays a picture of the boat, but only if, in that picture of the boat, the concentric circles or the word “Urantia” or both appear:
“The display of the concentric circles symbol, as it appears in pictures of the boat, the “Urantia Emprise,“is not for commercial purposes. Neither the owners of the “Urantia Emprise,” nor the Fellowship, claim any trademark, service mark, or collective membership mark rights in the concentric circles symbol or the words “Urantia” or “Urantian.”For use in commerce (all rights reserved), the Urantia Foundation owns the concentric circles symbol and the words “Urantia” and “Urantian” as registered trade, service, and collective membership marks. Neither the content of this page, nor the “Urantia Emprise,” is sponsored by, or affiliated with, the Urantia Foundation.”
We have also learned that the Fellowship has on its website a news page called “Urantianet.” For the reasons cited above, we respectfully request that the Fellowship prominently display the following disclaimer on each page where the word “Urantianet” appears:
“The content of this page is not sponsored by, or affiliated witk the Urantia Foundation, which owns, for commercial purposes (all rights reserved), the words Urantian and “Urantian” as trade, service, and collective membership marks. The Fellowship does not claim any rights in the word “Urantianet” as a trademark, service mark, or collective membership mark.”
Janet, please give me a call if you have any questions.
In the spirit of unity and cooperation, Tonia Baney
2. The second letter is offering the Fellowship a website License agreement. Following is a copy of the letter:
Dear Janet,
In response to past requests by Fellowship leaders, the Trustees are pleased to provide you with the Foundation’s website License Agreement. The Trustees believe that this Agreement is a step forward in forging a spirit of cooperation within the community of readers. By signing this Agreement, the Fellowship and the Foundation would be making a commitment to maintaining and sharing the inviolate text, as well as a commitment to provide the authorized translations currently available to the world.
The Trustees have previously communicated their commitment to facilitate unity and cooperation within the community of readers of The Urantia Book. Several steps have been taken by the Trustees of Urantia Foundation to facilitate such unity. This website License Agreement represents one more step toward such unity and cooperation.
We understand that the Fellowship must engage in a process to consider the merits of this website License Agreement. During the process, we hope that the Fellowship will take the appropriate steps in recognition of the copyright in The Urantia Book and its authorized translations, and the trademarks with respect to current and future postings on its website. And, we hope that all websites related to the revelation would attempt to be bastions of goodwill emanating to all parts of the planet.
It is clear that if we are to be about the work of dissemination of this revelation we must work to unite our community around the common goals and purposes which would, in fact, unite us.
We look forward to the evolving process by which the IUA and Fellowship, the largest membership groups, gather to consider the means to develop a deeper unity and working relationship. We hope that there can be truly cooperative efforts with respect to translation efforts and thal all websites will represent the best efforts to date with respect to the translation of the revelation.
In advance, we thank you for the efforts that we pray will be made by The Fellowship to evolve a greater degree of unity within the readership community.
Yours in the Master’s Service,
The Trustees of Urantia Foundation
Kwan Choi, Gard Jameson, Richard Keeler, Georges Michelson-Dupont, Mo Siegel
For the past two years the Australian Foundation office has displayed a booth at the Singapore Book Fair. This year, however we decided to do something different; we sent someone just to walk the floor and visit with book stores and distributors at the book fair and throughout Singapore. Robert Coenraads from Sydney, Australia volunteered his services, donned a suit and tie, and set about to make contacts with the book trade in Singapore.
His visit turned out to be a great success. He discovered that the large distributors are not interested in dealing with a publisher who carries one title only. However, he found a smaller distributor who is interested in carrying the book. This distributor supplies books to mainstream bookstores throughout Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, South Africa, Taiwan and Hong Kong. They offered to display The Urantia Book at their booth while at the fair, giving us a special stand. Four books were sold. A representative also took Robert to some of their retail outlets to allow him to introduce The Urantia Book to the store managers.
It was discovered that the book is on display at the Borders bookstore in Singapore. The store has been open since November of 1997 and so far it has sold eight Urantia Books. Several other major book chains were visited and all showed an interest in the book. Someone from one of the major chain stores said that they had received ten requests for The Urantia Book in the past year. English is the first language spoken by many Singaporians so English books are big sellers.
During last year’s visit to Singapore, attempts were made to penetrate the library system but we were thwarted at all turns being told that libraries are wemy of western religious material. The government has a censorship board which restricts the importation of “suspect” material. We were afraid that these restrictions may effect the book trade but it seems as though The Urantia Book has been passed by the censorship board as Borders are able to import and carry it. The concensus amongst the retailers was that the library system is behind the times and their fears are unfounded.
Robert also made contact with several readers who bought books the year before. They are keen about the book and have now been put in touch with one another. The seeds have been sown for the beginning of a study group.
Once again the Foundation displayed a booth in Chicago at the BookExpo America. This year we had a comer booth making the layout look spacious and attractive. Our distributors were visited by Foundation staff and were told about the discounted price of the hard cover and the listing under Theology in the Library of Congress. Some new trade contacts were made and many interested potential readers showed an interest.
Adrienne Jamagan, a long time reader from Texas, kindly volunteered her services and came all the way to Chicago especially to help us man the booth.
Next year’s BEA will be held in California, breaking the tradition of it being held in Chicago. If anyone would like to assist the Foundation with book fairs please contact us.
The construction of high-rise apartment buildings in the late 60’s and early 70’s, combined with the fact that there are no separate storm drain systems in the immediate area, caused sudden and severe basement flooding at 533 during typical Midwest thunderstorms. There are some readers whose no doubt fondest memories of a visit to 533 were of helping to bail out the basement!
After 30 years the problem has finally been addressed by configuring the building drainage (downspouts and gutters) and the interior plumbing waste lines, into a pump assisted line to tie in well above the level of the street sewers.
This has allowed two rooms in the basement to be refurbished and wired up with computer equipment and desks, and has also expanded the availability of safe, dry storage areas for our book supplies.
Now the staff and residents of 533 can enjoy the spectacular summer storms without the dread of mop-up time afterwards!
As many of you may be aware, the Foundation decided not to sue Kristen Maaherra for damages in the aftermath of the Ninth Circuit Appeals Court decision, which ruled that the renewal of the Foundation’s copyright in The Urantia Book was valid.
Although the Copyright Act clearly entitles the Foundation to recover substantial damages, the Foundation has decided to forego any request for damages, costs, or attorney’s fees in order to impress upon the Court the priority and necessity of a permanent injunction against Maaherra barring her from further copying The Urantia Book.
Earlier this month, the Foundation lodged a motion that the court grant a permanent injunction against Kristen Maaherra. The following extract from the motion has caused various people to contact us asking for clarification:
The Foundation submits that the Court should permanently enjoin Maaherra by entering an Order that Kristen Maaherra and those in active concert or participation with her are enjoined from:
- Infringing plaintiffs copyright in The Urantia Book in any manner, including the creation or distribution of copies of electronic databases or computer disks. or compact discs containing the text of The Urantia Book;
- Encouraging others to infringe the copyright in The Urantia Book; and
- Assisting, siding. or abetting any person or business entity engaging in any of the activities prohibited in subparagraphs (1) - (2) above.
We have been told that the “concert/participation” language is standard traditional injunction language used so that the defeated party cannot circumvent an injunction by enlisting others to do the copying for them. If people are not acting in concert with the defendant or participating in acts of copyright infringement, then they have nothing to worry about. If they are, then they will be in violation of a court order if our motion for permanent injunction is successful.
This is not another “declaration of war,” as some Fellowship members have expressed, on anyone; rather it is a standard legal procedure dating back hundreds of years. In effect it will protect the Foundation from future violations of its copyright from the same individual.
The following quotes are from the “Statement of Facts” section of the Motion. These may help to shed some light on why the Foundation feels the need to request a permanent injunction against Maaherra.
Maaherra violated the Foundation copyright and has given the Court no reason to believe she will desist from future infringement. The Urantia Book holds great religious significance for Maaherra. Because of her religious beliefs, Maaherra feels that it is her duty to disseminate The Urantia Boole, regardless of the Foundation’s copyright.
From the inception of this litigation, Maaherra has remained steadfast in her belief that it is God’s will that she distribute The Urantia Book, and that she has done nothing wrong by following God’s will. She continues to assert that there is a higher moral or religious law than man’s secular law, and that she was not wrong in distributing the diskettes with the text of the Urantia Papers on them.
Accordingly, Maaherra is tempted to discard secular law when it comes into conflict with her strong religious convictions. For example, shortly after the Ninth Circuit declared the Foundation’s copyright valid and enforceable, Maaherra authored a newsletter entitled “Lies Become Law” discussing Judge Schroeder’s ruling in the Ninth Circuit Opinion. The newsletter characterized Schroeder’s opinion as “an affront, a slap in the face, a travesty of justice, and an abridgement of my rights to my beliefs.” She goes on to say “that for Schroeder to say, I (Maaherra) and with me the thousands of religionists who also want the Urantia Papers in the public domain have no ‘superior copyright interests’ is another enormous slap in the face to religionists.”
An interesting wrinkle in these proceedings is Maaherra’s testimony in her most recent deposition that her plans for developing any study aids or derivative works relating to The Urantia Book in the future depends on the scope of the injunction that this Court will give the Foundation. In her deposition, Maaherra stated as follows:
“Q. At this point in time, do you have any plans for developing any study aids or derivative works relating to The Urantia Book in the future?
A. It depends on the kind of injunction Urbom is going to come up with”
Despite the Ninth Circuit’s ruling, she is currently in the process of preparing a CD-ROM version of The Urantia Book with the intent of distributing it to others.
Following is a letter that has just been mailed giving people initial invitation of our November weekend event. I hope you all received one:
July 8, 1998
Now, as never before, the Urantia Revelation needs your help and assistance to develop an Intelligent strategy for the dissemination of the teachings of The Urantia Book.
Dear Friends,
We need your help to prepare for the coming growth of the Urantia Revelation around the world
On Friday-Sunday, November 6-8, 1998, in Chicago, we will be hosting a meeting of readers here at the Foundation. During this time, we will develop real programs and projects for: 1) Study Group Development, 2) the Role of Service Groups, 3) Translations, and 4) the Development of Leaders and Teachers. Dr. Jeffrey Wattles will be our keynote speaker and will talk on the principles and doctrines of The Urantia Book that need disseminating.
We will begin on Friday evening at the Foundation with an open house and conclude with brunch on Sunday morning. The nearby Dewes Mansion has been booked/or the seminar activities and the Saturday evening social, which includes dinner and dancing. We have done our best to minimize the cost of the weekend at about $250.
You will be receiving a formal invitation with more details in the next month or so. In the meantime, please mark your calendars and save the dates now. Thank you in advance for your help and assistance.
Sincerely, Tonia Baney
Executive Director
PS: Please mark your calendars to save these dates: Friday-Sunday, November 6-8, 1998, in Chicago.