NHNE Special Report:
Tuesday, February 22, 2000
D. Patrick Miller's Course Controversy
Overview
"News,
Inspiration,
& Consumer Protection
for Spiritual Seekers"
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NHNE Follow-Up:
D. Patrick Miller's Course Controversy Overview
Tuesday, February 22, 2000
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P.O. Box 2242
Sedona, AZ USA 86339
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Hello Everyone!
Here's yet another article concerning the ongoing Course in Miracles
drama. Written by D. Patrick Miller, who is also the author of "The
Complete Story of the Course: The History, the People, and the Controversies
Behind a Course in Miracles" (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0965680908/newheavenneweartA/),
this is the best overview of the situation I have seen.
With Love & Best Wishes,
David Sunfellow
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THE COURSE, THE COPYRIGHT, AND THE CONTROVERSY:
A BRIEF HISTORY
By D. Patrick Miller for The Holy Encounter
http://www.miraclecenter.org/miller.htm
As Helen Schucman and Bill Thetford labored at the secret task of recording
and transcribing A Course in Miracles [ACIM] from 1965 to 1972, they
were not sure of its ultimate purpose. At first they assumed the Course
was a private and prolific answer to Thetford's heartfelt plea for "another
way" to communicate than the habitual bickering of the two Columbia
University psychology professors. By the time the massive manuscript
was completed, it had been shown only to a few intimates -- including
Hugh Lynn Cayce, son of the famed psychic channel Edgar Cayce.
Cayce was given a draft manuscript of the Course that would eventually
reside in the library of the Association for Research and Enlightenment
in Virginia Beach. It was the "Hugh Lynn Cayce version" [HLC]
of ACIM that was shared with Kenneth Wapnick, Ph.D., a Jewish-born psychologist
who had converted to Catholicism and was planning to live as a monk
in Galilee before he encountered the Course in 1972. "It did not
take me very long to realize," Wapnick has recounted, "that
A Course in Miracles was my life's work, Helen and Bill were my spiritual
family, and that I was not to become a monk but to remain in New York
with them instead."
Five Thousand Close Friends
Had it been left up to Schucman, Thetford, and Wapnick, the Course
might never have progressed beyond a bulky, photocopied manuscript shared
gingerly with their confidants. The "socialization" of the
Course began with the arrival of Judith Skutch, a continuing education
instructor at New York University and a gregarious networker in New
Age and parapsychology circles. Bill Thetford once joked that Judy Skutch
introduced ACIM's inner circle to "five thousand of her closest
friends."
Skutch also arranged the photocopying and dissemination of several
hundred copies of ACIM before it was printed in book form. In 1975 a
copyright for the work was procured in the name of "(Anonymous)
Helen Schucman" -- reflecting Schucman's unease in being cited
as the author of material that she felt she had only transmitted. Schucman,
Thetford, Wapnick and Skutch formed the core of the Foundation for Inner
Peace [FIP], the nonprofit Course publisher. (A few years later Wapnick
would found the closely allied Foundation for A Course in Miracles [FACIM]
as a nonprofit educational institute.) By June 22, 1976, the first five
thousand sets of the original 3-volume hardcover edition of A Course
in Miracles were made available for sale.
A Return of Royalties
There were no major disputes involving use of the ACIM text or title
until the hugely successful launch of Marianne Williamson's first book
A Return to Love in 1992. While the first edition of Return clearly
identified the Course as the source of Williamson's inspiration, the
text did not clearly identify ACIM excerpts. Thus, readers not already
familiar with the language of ACIM could have easily mistaken Williamson
as the source of the Course quotes within her book. FIP complained to
the publisher and an agreement was reached that included the payment
of some royalties to FIP and the full citation of ACIM quotes in future
editions of A Return to Love.
Endeavor Follows Suit with Suit
Another copyright dispute was brewing in the early 1990s. The New Christian
Church of Full Endeavor in southern Wisconsin (popularly known by the
name of its educational branch, Endeavor Academy) began printing small
booklets consisting mostly of Course excerpts without permission from
FIP. The Foundation complained repeatedly to the Church without result,
but took no formal action until 1996.
That was the year FIP granted a five-year publishing license to Viking
Penguin (now Penguin Putnam), and soon thereafter Viking and FIP jointly
sued Endeavor for copyright infringement. Endeavor promptly answered
with a counter-suit charging that the original copyright was invalid
and procured on fraudulent grounds, since it named Helen Schucman and
not Jesus Christ as the author. The case soon became bogged down in
motions and counter-motions between the two parties, a situation that
persists today.
Figuring the Percentage
The Endeavor suit and counter-suit revolve mostly around US copyright
law, but other Course organizations were troubled by FIP's progressively
tightening copyright policy. By 1994 that policy included the provision
that any book written about the Course could not use ACIM excerpts for
more than 5% of its word count. The limitation did not seem to apply
to Ken Wapnick's books (for instance, his title A Vast Illusion relies
on ACIM for as much as 20% of its word count, according to my analysis).
While there are no precise legal standards for what constitutes the
"fair use" of copyrighted material, many authors in
the Course field believe there should be a quotations policy that is
more liberal than the standard practice in publishing.
A Surprising Switch
Outside the two foundations that have been ACIM's legal guardians,
no one was prepared for the March 1999 announcement that ownership of
the copyright and trademarks had been abruptly transferred from FIP
to FACIM. Following the change, there were modifications in policy as
well as the way it was effected. For instance, the 5% quotation rule
was apparently abandoned in favor of a requirement that virtually every
kind of media making any use of the Course, however minor, was to be
submitted to FACIM for approval.
FACIM also began issuing letters to a wide variety of Course organizations,
authors, and webmasters who made use of Course text or the trademarked
terms "ACIM" and A Course in Miracles in their media. Among
those who received letters requesting that they amend or cease their
usage of Course text and trademarks were such veteran teachers and writers
as Jon Mundy of the Interfaith Fellowship in New York, the Rev. Tony
Ponticello of Community Miracles Center in San Francisco, and Robert
Perry of the Circle of Atonement [COA] in Sedona, Arizona. Since these
organizations had been accustomed to using Course material under the
purview of FIP's policy, they were startled to receive FACIM's non-negotiable
demands.
Permission Delayed, Then Denied
Robert Perry was also denied permission to use excerpts of the Course
in a major book of commentary. According to the author, the manuscript
uses the Course for about 15% of its word count. The project was submitted
to FIP for approval a year before the transfer of the copyright. FIP
never issued a decision on the manuscript, but Wapnick denied permission
without citing specific causes only a few days after FACIM assumed the
copyright. That denial was soon followed with a "cease and
desist" letter from FACIM's attorneys demanding that Perry stop
distributing virtually all the COA literature that made use of Course
text for lesson commentaries, essays, and other teaching material. These
materials had long been the subject of both conflict and negotiation
with FIP, but the original copyright holder had never taken a specific
legal action against COA.
Concluding that FACIM's order could not be followed without shutting
down his organization, Perry filed a legal motion calling for a judge
to "to establish the right of COA to fairly use A Course in Miracles
and other related works in its publications." While not asking
for damages, Perry's motion did call for the cancellation of the
Course copyright and trademarks. FACIM's answer was uncompromising.
In a counterclaim the Foundation cited 52 infringing works published
by COA, and asked for damages ranging from $1 million to $5 million.
In a statement issued just before this publication's presstime, FACIM
explained that, "in cases of copyright infringement, the plaintiff
must assert a request for damages in the complaint."
The HLC Version Surfaces -- and Resurfaces
By mid-1999 FACIM's actions had sparked a veritable firestorm of comment
and controversy on the Internet, where ACIM has always had a significant
presence. Attorney Tom Whitmore posted a website devoted entirely to
the copyright controversy. Ryan Rothgeb, who uses the online name "Amminadab,"
made large portions of the Course available on his website on AmericaOnline
and was sued for infringement in July. This action constitutes the third
lawsuit that FACIM is currently pursuing in defense of the ACIM copyright
and trademarks.
By the end of last year several websites began making an alternate
version of ACIM available. Purported to be a faithful transcription
of the early "Hugh Lynn Cayce version" of the Course, the
text varies from the standard ACIM chiefly in the first five chapters.
The webmasters making it available have put forth various arguments
for the HLC version's exemption from copyright -- including the fact
that several hundred photocopies were circulated without copyright notice
before publication of the standard Course.
FACIM began issuing cease-and-desist letters every time the HLC version
appeared on the Web, resulting in a legal cat-and-mouse game as the
bootleg version of ACIM disappeared from one location only to appear
within days at another. In response to the furor, Ken Wapnick issued
a brief commentary on the HLC manuscript in late January of this year.
Describing the HLC as an "incompletely edited combination of the
notebooks, Urtext, Helen's first retyping, and the first complete draft,"
Wapnick recounted that the manuscript had been given to Cayce for comment
only, with the understanding that it would not be shown to the general
public. He also claimed copyright protection for the material under
a 1990 copyright taken out to cover all of Helen Schucman's unpublished
writing, including successive working drafts of ACIM.
A No-Comment Policy
Throughout this controversy FACIM has consistently maintained that
it is acting only in observation of its rights as the legitimate holder
of the Course copyright and trademarks, and that its overall aim is
to uphold the integrity of the original Course teaching. But many observers
question the appropriateness of FACIM's recent legal actions on behalf
of a teaching that promotes the spiritual values of forgiveness
and defenselessness. While FACIM has repeatedly asserted that it is
not attempting to control either public discussion or published commentary
on the Course, many veteran ACIM activists find it difficult to reconcile
these claims with FACIM's recent behavior.
FACIM's position is difficult to explore further because of its current
no-comment policy. Citing the advice of legal counsel, Ken Wapnick has
twice declined my request for an interview. Meanwhile, FACIM attorney
Sanford J. Hodes has stated in correspondence appearing online that
observers of the controversy might be surprised to learn that permission
to quote the Course is granted to "almost all persons" who
submit requests to FACIM.
When I asked Hodes to substantiate that assertion, FACIM provided the
following information. Of 89 total requests for permissions made to
FACIM, 51 have been granted and 16 are pending. The Foundation has approved
about two-thirds of the requests involving books or articles, and about
one-fourth of the requests involving lesser media such as greeting cards,
bookmarks, and calendars. (In the latter category, one-third of the
requests is pending.)
An Expert Assessment
For an impartial and informed assessment of the Course copyright controversy
I turned to Los Angeles attorney Jonathan Kirsch, a copyright specialist
who is familiar with the history of the Course and has also studied
legal precedents involving spiritual or channeled teachings. Kirsch
believes that challenges to the Course copyright based on the claim
of spiritual authorship are likely to fail.
"The salient legal question is not whether FACIM, Endeavor Academy,
or Course students generally believe in spiritual authorship of the
Course," explains Kirsch. "The question is whether an impartial
judge or jury will find that there was no trace of personal authorship
[by Helen Schucman]. Given the reported facts of how the Course came
to be, that sounds unlikely."
Kirsch also believes that the existing copyright is unlikely to be
overturned on the basis of pre- copyright distribution of the HLC version.
Under current law and existing precedents, he says "it would be
a very drastic decision for a court to cause forfeiture of copyright
simply because a few hundred copies of a publication were distributed
without a notice back in the 70s."
On the broader issue of "fair use" of copyrighted material,
Kirsch says it's a much tougher call. Since fair use standards are not
specified in the law, the only way to defend a claim of fair use is
to publish, get sued, and win. "If you've written a comprehensive
commentary on ACIM," says Kirsch, "I think you're in a likely
posture to successfully claim fair use -- even if you quote the Course
a lot. The problem is that there is a threshold for fair use somewhere,
and you can't know with precision beforehand whether you've crossed
that threshold."
Kirsch concludes that "there is a sound argument that FACIM has
the right and responsibility to protect individuals against defective
or distorted versions of ACIM. What makes me uncomfortable is the idea
that the Foundation would use the threat of litigation to intimidate
an author or group for their earnestly held, personal beliefs about
ACIM when they are otherwise observing copyright standards. But the
fact is that the law does allow you to use copyright and trademark for
those purposes if you wish."
Growing Pains?
While many Course students are deeply dismayed that their beloved teaching
could become embroiled in such a bitter and litigious controversy, the
current struggle over copyright can be seen as a form of inevitable
"growing pains" for a spiritual movement that is still in
its infancy by historical standards. However long it takes to heal wounded
relationships, it's reasonable to assume that the legal resolution of
this controversy will be haltingly hammered out somewhere in the middle
between the two current extreme positions.
Those who want to see the Course entirely released from copyright protection
are likely to be disappointed in court. But it seems unlikely that FACIM
can maintain its current pace and style of policy enforcement unless
Ken Wapnick decides to sacrifice his historical teaching function for
a full-time career of making depositions and court appearances. The
first serious fair use challenge to approach the courts is likely to
result in a mediated settlement and a less restrictive (and hopefully
more public) fair use policy.
In the short term, a useful meditation for everyone involved in the
copyright controversy may be found in a simple question posed in Chapter
7 of the ACIM Text: "Do you prefer that you be right or happy?"
If there was ever a situation that illustrates the impossibility of
maintaining both states of mind simultaneously, it is the current dispute
regarding the fair and proper use of A Course in Miracles.
D. Patrick Miller is the author of The Complete Story of the Course,
A Little Book of Forgiveness, and The Book of Practical Faith (available
from Miracle Distribution Center). To read the full text of Miller's
"Rights and Miracles" interview with Jonathan Kirsch online,
go to <http://www.fearlessbooks.com/FeatureLine11.html>. A photocopied
version is available by sending your request and $1.00 to Miracle Distribution
Center.
MiracleDistribution Center
1141 E. Ash Ave. Fullerton, CA 92831
(714) 738-8380
Fax (714) 441-0618
info@miraclecenter.org
The Continuing Story of the Course:
http://www.fearlessbooks.com/ContStory1.html
D. Patrick Miller's Fearless Press Website:
http://www.fearlessbooks.com/
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For more information on the Course controversy and other Course issues:
NHNE: SPECIAL REPORT: A Course In Controversy:
http://www.nhne.com/specialreports/srcoursehlcversion.html
INFORMATION ABOUT THE COURSE COPYRIGHT ISSUE:
http://nen.sedona.net/circleofa/copyinfo.html
CIM COPYRIGHT WEBSITE:
http://www.whitmorelaw.com/CIM_Copyright.html
TALK.RELIGION.COURSE-MIRACLE:
http://www.deja.com/group/talk.religion.course-miracle
FOUNDATION FOR A COURSE IN MIRACLES:
http://www.facim.org/
THE FOUNDATION FOR INNER PEACE:
http://www.acim.org/
"Absence from Felicity: The Story of Helen
Schucman and Her Scribing of A Course in Miracles"
by Kenneth Wapnick:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0933291086/newheavenneweartA/
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David Sunfellow, Founder & Publisher
NewHeavenNewEarth (NHNE)
a 501(c)3 non-profit organization
P.O. Box 2242
Sedona, AZ USA 86339
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