Vol. 13, No. 2, 1996

Articles on Scientology

A New York Times story on 20 January 1996 reported that Scientology's Religious Technology Center (RTC) had won a copyright infringement case in Federal court. Judge Leonie M. Brinkema of the U. S. District Court in Alexandria, Va. ruled that Arnaldo P. Lerma had violated copyright laws by posting Scientology documents on the Internet.

Lerma's attorneys had filed for a summary judgement to have the Scientology suit dismissed. Judge Brinkema issued her summary judgement 19 January, stating that Lerma had violated Scientology's copyright protection by placing materials on the Internet in a context which did not meet a "fair use" criteria. Statutory damages and attorney fees will be assessed against Lerma at a date to be announced.

Lerma had posted Scientology's Operating Thetan materials on the Internet through Digital Gateway Systems, an Internet server. An attorney for the RTC contacted Lerma by fax on 4 August, 1995 asking for the materials to be removed. Lerma refused to comply with their request. Scientology representatives also visited Lerma at his home. Lerma obtained the documents from court records arising from a similar case in California. He maintained that the material was a matter of public record.

On 12 August, Federal Marshals accompanied by Scientology lawyers served a writ of seizure on Lerma at his home. Lerma's computer and disks were impounded. RTC also filed suit against Lerma's Internet service provider. The provider settled out of court according to the Times story.

RTC had also filed against the Washington Post who had covered the story and published excerpts from Scientology documents. Judge Brinkema dismissed that suit as "reprehensible," finding that the Post had made fair use of the material in their story.