Law Offices

 

 

McAfee & Taft

 

 

A Professional Corporation

 

 

10th Floor, Two Leadership Square

211 North Robinson

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73102-7103

(405) 235-9621

Fax (405) 235-0439

http://www.mcafeetaft.com

 

 

 

Ross A. Plourde

Writer direct

(405) 552-2277

Fax (405) 228-7477

ross.plourde@mcafeetaft.com

 

November 5, 2001

 

 

 

 

 

Steven G. Hill

Hill & Kertscher, LLP

Overlook III

2859 Paces Ferry Road

Suite 750

Atlanta, GA  30339

 

Re: The Urantia Book Fellowship

 

Dear Steve:

Thank you for your letter of October 17, 2001.  Needless to say, The Urantia Book Fellowship (the “Fellowship”) strongly disagrees with the positions you delineated in your letter.  We believe the Canadian copyright claimed by Urantia Foundation (the “Foundation”) is either void ab initio or has expired.  Even if it remains valid and is enforceable under the Berne Convention, it is not enforceable in the United States in light of the decision in the Michael Foundation case, and all of the Fellowship’s activities of which you complain have occurred in the United States.  I suspect you understand well the grounds for these positions and it does not serve the purposes of this letter to expound further upon them at this time.

The Fellowship has attempted to carefully re-evaluate and prioritize its objectives.  As a result of that effort, the Fellowship has concluded that the objectives of students and believers of The Urantia Book would not be best served by engaging in mediation or arbitration with the Foundation at this time.  Consequently, the Fellowship has elected to take the following steps in response to your letter:

1.                  The Fellowship will display the Foundation’s English text in publicly accessible areas of the Fellowship’s website. 

2.                  The Fellowship will include a notice of copyright with the following additional language or equivalent:

The United States Copyright claimed by Urantia Foundation in The Urantia Book has been declared no longer valid by the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma in a judgment entered August 14, 2001.  Urantia Foundation contends The Urantia Book is nevertheless subject to protection because it registered a copyright in The Urantia Book in Canada and asserts that such copyright is entitled to international protection by reason of the Berne Convention. 

3.                    The Fellowship will provide a disclaimer to advise users that annotations and commentary included with its "Study Aid" text represent the opinions of their authors and are not a part of the original text of The Urantia Book.  In addition, The Fellowship will publish this "Study Aid" edition in such a manner that it is not accessible from Internet search engines, but only via links on the Fellowship website.

4.                  The Fellowship will delete any direct links to “unauthorized” translations on its website.

For the most part, the Foundation’s complaints relating to provisions numbers 3, 7 and 10 of the Memorandum of Understanding are addressed by the foregoing steps.  We disagree with your characterization of the communications identified in your letter as disparaging of the Foundation or misleading.  Nevertheless it is the Fellowship’s intention to redouble its efforts to avoid these types of communications regarding the Foundation.

I believe only one area identified in your letter is not addressed by the foregoing steps.  You assert that the Fellowship has violated the Memorandum of Understanding by its plans to print its own version of The Urantia Book.  You assert that the Memorandum of Understanding did not contemplate the sale by the Fellowship of its own version of The Urantia Book under the Fellowship’s name.  Of course, the trademark licenses granted pursuant to the Memorandum of Understanding are perpetual.  They will continue to exist long after any glint of the copyrights claimed by the Foundation has disappeared.  Surely you do not contend that the Memorandum of Understanding, which is completely silent on the issue of printed copies of The Urantia Book, contemplated that the Fellowship would never print its own version of The Urantia Book.  Just because the Fellowship decided to print its own version now, rather than after the dates the Foundation contends its Canadian and/or United States copyrights would expire, does not change the fact that the Foundation and the Fellowship knew when they entered into the Memorandum of Understanding that the Fellowship would someday have the right to print its own version of The Urantia Book. 

We believe the steps the Fellowship is taking, as outlined above, should serve as an indication of the Fellowship’s good faith and cure any alleged breach of the Memorandum of Understanding identified by the Foundation.  I trust you will agree.

Sincerely,

Ross A. Plourde

RAP:ay