Urantia Foundation v. Maaherra, Civ. No. 91-0325 PHX WKU.
| Citation | 895 F. Supp. 1347 |
| Decision Date | 10 February 1995 |
| Docket Number | Civ. No. 91-0325 PHX WKU. |
| Parties | URANTIA FOUNDATION, Plaintiff, v. Kristen MAAHERRA, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Arizona |
L. Dale Owens and Scott A. Wharton of Booth, Wade & Campbell, Atlanta, GA, for plaintiff and counter-defendant, Urantia Foundation.
Joseph D. Lewis of Cleary & Komen, Washington, DC, for defendant and counter-claimant, Kristen Maaherra.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER ON DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON COUNT I FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
This cause is before me on the Defendant's motion for partial summary judgment pursuant to Rule 56(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The defendant, Kristen Maaherra, asserts that the plaintiff's copyright in The URANTIA Book is invalid and thus her copying of the book's text1 is not prohibited.
The plaintiff, Urantia Foundation, brought this action in part to enjoin the defendant from infringing its copyright to The URANTIA Book. The defendant essentially admits the actions alleged by the plaintiff, but contends that the plaintiff's copyright renewal in the book is invalid. Consequently, the defendant asserts a counterclaim for declaratory judgment and requests that the plaintiff's copyright renewal in The URANTIA Book be declared void. The motion for summary judgment is to be decided under the copyright law as it existed under the Copyright Act of 1909.2
The genesis of the instant case can be traced back nearly a century. Early in the twentieth century a Chicago physician by the name of William S. Sadler, Sr. was confronted by an individual with extraordinary talents. This individual became a patient of Dr. Sadler's and was studied by him for over eighteen years. During this time the patient communicated numerous and sundry messages, initially to Dr. Sadler and, later, to a small group. The court believes Dr. Sadler made reference to these messages in the appendix to a book he wrote in 1929.3
The communications which have been written, or which we have had the opportunity to hear spoken, are made by a vast order of alleged beings who claim to come from other planets to visit this world, to stop here as student visitors for study and observation when they are en route from one universe to another or from one planet to another. These communications further arise in alleged spiritual beings who purport to have been assigned to this planet for duties of various sorts.
(Def.'s Reply Br. in Supp. of Def.'s Mot. for Partial Summ. J.App. III at 383.) Dr. Sadler concluded the aforementioned appendix by stating, "Our investigations are being continued and ... I hope some time in the near future to secure permission for the more complete reporting of the phenomena connected with this interesting case." Id. at 384.
There is no proof that the patient Dr. Sadler mentioned in his book is the "Contact Personality" to which the parties in the instant case refer; nor is it of particular importance in deciding the motion currently before me. I quote the passage simply because it depicts the generally agreed upon events that help to explain the origin of the "Urantia Papers."
As the "Urantia Papers" came into existence through the Contact Personality, Dr. Sadler and his initial followers4 assumed certain responsibilities. They "worked directly with the contact personality in the production of the text of the Urantia Papers ... providing feedback and receiving instructions regarding the disposition of the Papers." (Pl.'s Resp. to Def.'s Req. for Admis. at 25-26.) hereinafter Pl.'s Admis. Subsequently, a larger group of individuals5 was invited to participate in this unique experience. This larger group's role was "to read and study the early drafts of the text of the Urantia Papers, discuss their content, and submit questions about the subject matter." Id. at 88. At the end of this complex and arduous process 196 separate papers were procured and became known as the "Urantia Papers."
Although neither party knows the exact date when the 196 distinct "Urantia Papers" were compiled and became The URANTIA Book, it is generally believed to have occurred in the mid-1930's. From that time onward Dr. Sadler and other people who were interested in the messages of The URANTIA Book would meet at his home and discuss the book. In 1950 the Urantia Foundation was created by an instrument of trust with an objective of educating the peoples of the world in an attempt to increase and enhance their comfort, happiness, and well being.6 The foundation was created by and initially included many of the original followers of Dr. Sadler. In 1955 the Urantia Foundation published The URANTIA Book and, shortly thereafter, registered its copyright claim with the Copyright Office, as required by federal law. See 17 U.S.C. §§ 10, 11 and 13 (1976). On the application for registration the Urantia Foundation claimed it was the sole author of the book. (Pl.'s Compl. Ex. A at 2.) In 1983 the Urantia Foundation applied for and obtained a renewal in the copyright to The URANTIA Book, claiming to be the "proprietor of copyright in a work made for hire."
On February 27, 1991, the Urantia Foundation filed a complaint against the defendant, alleging that she had "copied the text of The URANTIA Book ... and ... distributed it ... throughout the United States." (Pl.'s Compl. at ¶ 13.) Thereafter, the defendant filed her answer in which she "admits copying the text of The Urantia Book ... and admits distributing it ... throughout the United States." ((Revised) Def.'s Substitute 2nd Am. Answer and Countercl. at ¶ 13.) The defendant contends, however, that "the renewal copyright for The Urantia Book was not properly obtained." Id. at ¶ 92.
The standard applied to a motion for partial summary judgment is identical to the standard applied to adjudicate a case fully by summary judgment. The motion shall be granted when, viewing the facts and reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, "there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and ... the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); Calnetics Corp. v. Volkswagen of Am., Inc., 532 F.2d 674, 683 n. 11 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 940, 97 S.Ct. 355, 50 L.Ed.2d 309 (1976). A genuine issue of material fact exists when there is sufficient evidence favoring the nonmoving party for a jury to return a verdict for that party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510-11, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986) (citing First Nat. Bank of Arizona v. Cities Serv. Co., 391 U.S. 253, 88 S.Ct. 1575, 20 L.Ed.2d 569 (1968)). If the moving party meets the initial burden of establishing the nonexistence of a genuine issue, then the burden shifts to the opposing party to produce evidence of the existence of a genuine issue for trial. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). "If the evidence is merely colorable or is not significantly probative, summary judgment may be granted." Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249-50, 106 S.Ct. at 2510-11 (citations omitted).
To prevail on the claim of copyright infringement the Urantia Foundation must prove both ownership of a valid copyright and "copying" by the defendant of the protected components of the copyrighted material. Data East USA, Inc. v. Epyx, Inc., 862 F.2d 204, 206 (9th Cir.1988) (citing Sid & Marty Krofft Television Productions, Inc. v. McDonald's Corp., 562 F.2d 1157, 1162 (9th Cir.1977)). The defendant's admission as to copying the text of The URANTIA Book allows me to focus solely on the validity of the plaintiff's copyright.
The plaintiff claims that "the Contact Commission and Foundation's exclusive possession of the unpublished manuscripts and the Foundation's subsequent publication creates a presumption that the copyright was transferred with the manuscript." (Pl.'s Mem. of Law in Opp'n to Def.'s Mot. for Partial Summ.J. as to Pl.'s Claim for Copyright Infringement at 4 n. 3.) hereinafter Pl.'s Br. (emphasis added). I find at least three weaknesses in the plaintiff's argument. First, I disagree with the plaintiff's assertion that the Contact Commission and the Urantia Foundation had exclusive possession of the unpublished manuscripts. "The URANTIA Foundation admits and states that ... the text of at least some of the Papers contained in The URANTIA Book was first set forth in ... handwritten form by a human patient of Dr. William Sadler." (Pl.'s Admis. at 15.) Although the means by which Dr. Sadler obtained those papers is far from clear, it cannot be denied that it was the patient who initially had exclusive possession of at least some of the papers.7
Second, the plaintiff's use of the word "presumption" is inaccurate. "A presumption is a rule of law, statutory or judicial, by which finding of a basic fact gives rise to existence of presumed fact, until presumption is rebutted." Black's Law Dictionary 1067 (5th ed. 1979) (citation omitted). I do not read the cases cited by the plaintiff to require a presumption of copyright transfer upon the showing of mere possession of a manuscript. See, e.g., Gerlach-Barklow Co. v. Morris & Bendien, Inc., 23 F.2d 159, 161 (2d Cir.1927) () (emphasis added); Houghton Mifflin Co. v. Stackpole Sons, Inc., 104 F.2d 306, 311 (2d Cir.) () (emphasis added), cert. denied, 308 U.S. 597, 60 S.Ct. 131, 84 L.Ed. 499 (1939); Freudenthal v. Hebrew Pub. Co., 44 F.Supp. 754, 755 (S.D.N.Y.1942) (same); see also 3 Melville B. Nimmer & David Nimmer, Nimmer on Copyright § 10.09B, at 10-78 (1994) (...
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Urantia Foundation v. Maaherra
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Urantia Foundation v. Maaherra
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