Friday, July 7, 2000
Richard Keeler, President, Urantia Foundation
Trustees of Urantia FoundationDear Richard and Trustees,
This letter responds Urantia Foundation's June 9, 2000 communication to Fellowship representatives over the signature of Urantia Foundation's Copyright/Trademark Team. That letter raised a number of copyright, trademark, and license matters of concern to the Foundation. Aspects of these matters involving Fellowship policy were reviewed by The Fellowship's General Council at its meeting of July 2-3, 2000.
The Fellowship's General Council sincerely desires to maintain friendly and cooperative relations with Urantia Foundation. Accordingly, in response to he Foundation's June 9 letter, the Council mandated the formation of a committee empowered to address and, where possible, to resolve matters raised in the Foundation's June 9 letter in a mutually satisfactory manner.
Since the Foundation's June 9 letter raises complex issues of a legal nature, the Council further directed that legal counsel be retained to advise the Fellowship on those matters. This is expected to be accomplished very shortly, after which the Fellowship's representatives will provide the Foundation with specific responses concerning the various matters discussed in the June 9 letter.
As noted in your June 9 letter, the Fellowship has already made various adjustments to its website in response to complaints raised by Urantia Foundation. We have made changes not noted in your letter and are continuing technical efforts to accommodate your concerns. These actions should be taken as a sign of the Fellowship's good faith intentions towards Urantia Foundation in seeking to acceptably resolve the concerns which exist between the two organizations. After the Fellowship has consulted legal counsel, it is expected that further substantial and lasting progress will be made in these matters.
The Fellowship has repeatedly requested a meeting with the five Trustees of Urantia Foundation concerning these and other matters. Our understanding has always been that the Trustees would arrange such a meeting consequent upon the Fellowship's sending certain individuals to meet with the Foundation's Copyright/Trademark Team in Chicago on April 8-9, 2000. The June 9 letter from that team states: "Your report again mentions a meeting with the Trustees. As we have explained on a number of occasions, this group cannot respond to that request. Please contact Richard Keeler about a meeting with the Trustees."
Accordingly, this letter is addressed to Richard Keeler, President of Urantia Foundation, and to the other Trustees, with copies to the Foundation's Copyright/Trademark Team. Once again, we respectfully request a meeting with the Trustees of Urantia Foundation in the conviction that such a meeting will provide the best circumstances for the resolution of outstanding differences between the Fellowship and Foundation, and set the stage for lasting peaceful and cooperative relations between the two organizations.
Sincerely, The Fellowship's Foundation Relations Committee
Avi Dogim
Steve Dreier
Marvin Gawryn
Marilynn Kulieke
Dan MasseyCc: Urantia Foundation Copyright/Trademark Team
Tonia Baney
Steve Hill
Seppo Kanerva
Georges Michelson-Dupont
Nancy Shaffer