Srila Prabhupada: "The Sankirtana Movement is not my invention. So how can it be copyrighted? So Hare Krishna cannot be copyrighted...."
Iskcon attempt to control the Holy Name
By PADA August 15, 2010
Thanks Kevin, actually I agree with you that we should respect others. For example however, the GBC is currently spending millions of rupees suing the Costa Rica farm, the Long Island temple, Bangalore temple, and no doubt others since they were going to sue us for alleged “trademark violation” on the words Hare Krishna, which they said we could not legally use since its their trademark. In sum, they are spending literally millions of rupees on lawyers to sue every devotee on the planet it seems, even suing people for use of the words Hare Krishna. At the same time many of their temples have bed bugs, and even rats, and the water pump is about to get shut off in Tennesse, yet they seem to spend on lawyers and not fix their temples? So if they want to get along, for starters, they should not sue everyone left, right and center, and they should fix their broken temples instead. thanks pd
Srila Prabhupada: “The Sankirtana Movement is not my invention. So how can it be copyrighted? So Hare Krishna cannot be copyrighted….” (SP Letter to: Dinesh 10 June, 1969)
Ajita das: The International Society for Krishna Consciousness Inc is the registered owner in Australia of the trade mark HARE KRISHNA in relation to “religious education, seminars, lectures; educational entertainment and information services of a religious nature” in Class 41 (registration 745346) and so any use of the words HARE KRSHNA in a trade mark sense by an entity that is not authorized by us in relation to such services would infringe registration 745346.
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Iskcon Idiot Ajita Das Wants To Copyright Krishna’s Holy Name
lnternational Society for Krishna Consciousness
Founder Acharya : His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
From Ajita das
To: Giriraja Govardhana Gaudiya Math
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness Inc is disappointed that your Organisation seems to have decided upon a course of action that is likely to cause divisiveness and certainly confusion in an area of religious life where we think it is more appropriate to aim for harmony and cooperation. If the end result of your actions is that people will be confused about the relationship between our organisations then that, in our view, is not in the interest of either party.
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness Inc has worked for many years in Australia to establish both a reputation and goodwill in the words HARE KRISHNA as a means of identifying our organisation and what our organisation does in both a religious and commercial sense. The end result of this is that we believe that people in Australia use the words HARE KRISHNA to distinguish our organisation so these words have become part of our identity in both a material and spiritual sense. In fact The International Society for Krishna Consciousness Inc is the registered owner in Australia of the trade mark HARE KRISHNA in relation to “religious education, seminars, lectures; educational entertainment and information services of a religious nature” in Class 41 (registration 745346) and so any use of the words HARE KRSHNA in a trade mark sense by an entity that is not authorized by us in relation to such services would infringe registration 745346.
We believe that we are obliged to defend the intellectual property rights that we have built up over the years and also act to do what we can to prevent deception and confusion arising through the misuse of our trade marks or any attempt to sow confusion in the minds of our supporters. We would certainly like to make it quite clear that we do not either agree with or condone the use of the words HARE KRISHNA in the way that we have seen. We would be extremely reluctant to enforce our legal rights but prefer to voice our concerns to you in a spirit of fraternity hoping that you will appreciate that your actions are inappropriate and counterproductive and that you will accordingly cease use of the words HARE KRISHNA in a way that is both contrary to the trade marks legislation and which would have the consequence of leading to deception or confusion.
On behalf of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
Ajita Das
President
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“So Hare Krishna Cannot Be Copyrighted”
BY A. C. BHAKTIVEDANTA SWAMI PRABHUPADA
Letter to: Dinesh New Vrindaban, 10 June, 1969
My Dear Dinesh,
Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated June, 6, 1969 and the copy of the agreement which you sent. The first thing is that I have already given you my word, so there is no need of an agreement with me. My word is final agreement, but if you want it for business reasons, I have no objections to sign it. But the wordings are not always clear. Another thing is although I have brought this Sankirtana Movement to the Western World we cannot make it copyrighted. The Sankirtana Movement is not my invention. So how can it be copyrighted? Besides that, as you will find in the album of my previous recording, the chanting of Hare Krishna is going on since time immemorial. So Hare Krishna cannot be copyrighted , although the tune in which I sing with my disciples, that may be made copyrighted. I have no objection to sign this agreement, but don’t be misled that the chanting of Hare Krishna or Lord Caitanya’s Movement can be made copyrighted.
There are some points in the contract which are not very clear, so you may explain them to me further by post. The points are as follows: ”ISKCON shall have the sole and exclusive right and authority to collect preserve and distribute all tangible expressions of said sound vibrations.” ”Said sound vibrations shall be fixed in a tangible form solely by ISKCON” ”ISKCON shall have the exclusive right to any existing sound recordings contained in any medium of fixation that have been previously recorded by the SWAMI” ”ISKCON shall have the sole and exclusive right to use the name and likeness of the SWAMI for all purposes and activities encompassed by this agreement.”
So upon hearing from you on these points I shall send you back the agreement duly signed by me. I am very much encouraged by the statement of your letter, but I must let you know the pros and cons of this agreement.
Please convey my blessings to Krishna Devi. I hope this will meet you in good health.
Your ever well-wisher,
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
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Attempt To Control The Holy Name “Hare Krishna” With Trade Mark
February 16, 2001 VNN6562 World
BY LILASUKA DAS
AUSTRALIA, Feb 16 (VNN) — Dear gentle vaisnavas, first of all I take upon my head the holy dust of the lotus feet of my Paramaradhyata Gurupadapadma Om Visnupada Astottara Sata Sri Srimad Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Maharaja. I also take the dust from the lotus feet of my beloved siksa-guru Om Visnupada Astottara Sata Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja, whom has given me so much enthusiasm and good instruction for the past five years.
In January 2001 Sri Giriraja Govardhana Gaudiya Math in Murwillumbah Australia hosted Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja. From 350 —400 devotees and guests attended lectures, kirtan and prasadam for eight days. An increase in the local community becoming interested in Krishna Consciousness was in part due to a large banner over the entrance to this small farming community reading, “Hare Krishna Festival — all welcome”.
The local ISKCON president Ajita Das posted a letter stating the disappointment ISKCON has with our recent preaching practices and revealed misconceptions they have about trade marking the transcendental name “Hare Krishna“. (Their letter is appended for reference below.)
The transcendental nature of the holy names of Krishna is described in the Padma Purana and quoted in Cc Madhya 17.133
nama cintamanih krsnas caitanya-rasa-vigrahah
purnah suddho nitya-mukto ‘bhinnatvan nama-naminoh
“The Holy Names of Krishna are cintamanih — transcendental bliss. They are the embodiment of all rasa because the name and the possessor of the name are non different. The names of the Lord are fully satisfying and always liberating, purnah suddho nitya-mukto , i.e., they can never become polluted.” Even if an institution trade marks the names of our Lord and then appoints gurus, management, and teachers who become entangled in bad activities – still the names of Krishna remain pure and uncontaminated. They are not the property of any individual or institution and they do not need to have their reputation defended. They will purify even the most fallen. The only requirement is to receive them from and chant these names in the association of pure devotees. President Ajita das has written: “ISKCON has worked hard for many years to establish a reputation and goodwill in the words HARE KRISHNA …” But the previous verse and Bhagavad-Gita 3.27 give us a clearer vision about who is the doer.
prakrteh kriyamanani gunaih karmani sarvasah
ahankara-vimudhatma kartaham iti manyate
“One under the influence of false ego thinks himself the doer of activities when in fact they are carried out either directly by the Lord or by his agents such as the three modes of material nature.”
President Ajita das has also written: “… through the misuse of our trademark … of the words Hare Krishna … We would be extremely reluctant to enforce our legal rights …” Although one should not disrespect the laws of the land, these laws are not sanatana (eternal) dharma. Trade mark legislation is for the most part written by atheist and cow eaters and is subject to being changed at any moment. A vaisnava or genuine aspirant never takes shelter in trademark legislation — he takes shelter in guru, sadhu, and sastra. All of our previous acharyas have given us prayers for taking shelter.
In Caitanya Candramrtam Prabodhananda Sarisvati advices the shelter of Sri Caitanya Maha Prabhu – caitanya-candra mama dehi padavalombam .In Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.2.23 one is adviced to take shelter in Sri Krishna himself – kam va dayalum saranam vrajema.
And in Upadesamrita 9 our Rupa Goswami advices to take shelter at Radha Kund — kuryad asya varajato kiri tate sevam viveki na kaha.
Krishna Consciousness is not a sectarian concern. There is only one guru, who appears in an infinity of forms to teach you, me and all others. In the Mundaka Upanisad (1.2.12) it is written:
tad-vijnartham sa gurum evabhigacchet
samit-panih srotriyam brahma-nistham
In order to learn the transcendental science, one must approach the bona fide spiritual master in disciplic succession, who is fixed in the Absolute Truth. Therefore, if the Absolute Truth is one, about which we think there is no difference of opinion, then the guru cannot be two. Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja Prabhupada and Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja are not the gurus of sectarian institutions or one out of many differing exponents of the truth. On the contrary, they are jagad-guru, or the gurus of all of us, the only difference is that some do bhajana to realize the essence they have in common while others worship only the external form and thus become entangled in sectarian concepts and activities – such as trade marking the holy name. (see lecture published in the Harmonist l936, on the advent day of His Divine Grace Om Visnupada Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura.)In the Padma Purana is written:
arcye visnau sila-dhir gurusu nara-matir vaisnave jati-buddhir
visnor va vaisnavanam kali-mala-mathane pada-tirthe ‘mbu-buddhih
sri-visnor namni mantre sakala-kalusa-he sabda-samanya-buddhir
visnau sarvesvarese tad-itara-sama-dhir yasya va naraki sah
“One who thinks the Deity in the temple to be made of wood or stone, who thinks of the qualified spiritual masters in the disciplic succession (such as Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja, Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja, and Srila Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Maharaj) as ordinary man, who thinks of caranamrta or water from holy places as ordinary water, who thinks the Vaisnavas to belong to a certain caste or creed (such as ISKCON and non ISKCON), who considers the holy names of the Supreme Lord which are able to destroy all sin as ordinary sound vibrations (which are subject to mundane trade mark legislation), or to consider the Supreme Lord as equal to the demigods is to be considered a resident of hell.” I pray that all find room in your heart to forgive me if I have written anything that causes pain.
Sri Giriraja Govardhana Gaudiya Math Lilasuka das
(a servant of the secretary)
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ISKCON threatening all homepage and websites owners with legal action
——— Original Message ———–
From: BBTI Internet Copyrights Office
Email: copyrights2@bbti.org
Sent: Monday, October 31, 2005 10:39 PM
Subject: BBTI copyrights
Dear prabhu,
Your website, is very nice, but you are using several copyrighted BBTI pictures. You mention their copyrights on your information page, which we appreciate. However, we would prefer that you contact us so that we have a record of what materials are being used and by whom. There is a form that we ask everyone to fill out for this purpose at http://www.bbti.org/form.html
While we are usually generous with letting ISKCON devotees use such materials for preaching purposes, we do have procedures for their use. Please contact us to resolve this matter.
Looking forward to your response,
Jiva Dasa
BBTI Internet Copyrights Office
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ISKCON Copyright Terror Still Continues
Austria (VNN) – by Wolfgang Burtscher
One may think that after Harikesa has left ISKCON, himself declaring it to be a dangerous cult, that this would make the “Cintamani Web Cartel” alias “ISKCON BBT” alias “ISKCON BBT Internet Services” alias “BBTI” to stop their bogus copyright claims and desist to threaten the Internet providers. But no. At least Mr. Van den Berg (alias Varnadi, ex-disciple? of Harikesa) (Varnadi.HKS@com.bbt.se Willem van den Berg) still continues as if nothing has happened:
From: barney@atlantic.net
Subject: Copyright Infringement
violation: ISKCON-BBT Internet Services
A division of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
Copyright and legal matters department
September 10, 1998
Dear Sirs,
On one of your customers’ sites copyright protected material is offered for downloading. It concerns the following address:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Troy/2319/index.htm (has been removed)
This address is used by a certain Wolfgang Burtscher as a download area where this copyrighted material is presented. It is linked to from, among others, the following German and Austrian sites:
http://privat.schlund.de/gaura-nitai/bg.htm (has been removed)
http://www.vlbg.at/privat/gaura-nitai/bg.htm (has been removed)
Mr. Burtscher did not receive our prior permission to utilize this material, nor to offer it for downloading. His doing so constitutes a copy right infringement. He has been notified about this on many occasions.
He is persistent, though. Several of his other download sites (on Tripod, Xoom, Fortune City and other free Web page providers) were shut down earlier this year, but it seems that Mr. Burtscher doesn’t know where to stop.
On request we can provide you with the necessary documents of proof of ownership. We hope you understand our concern and the seriousness of the matter, as well as the possible consequences this copyright violation may have for you. We therefore kindly request you to get back to us with some idea on how we can solve this problem.
Thank you for your kind cooperation.
Sincerely,
William van den Berg
Legal assistant
Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
ISKCON-BBT Internet Services
P.O. Box 13657
Gainesville FL 32604
U.S.A.
Tel/Fax: +1 (904) 418-0750
Comment by Wolfgang Burtscher: I told Mr. Van den Berg that each time he tries to remove this very books from a server, he triggers an enormous amount of bad karma. But he seems not to realize this. So, what can I do? Srila Prabhupadas books are meant for unlimited distribution and not for moneymaking, power politics and revision. I’ll continue to put them online again and again and again. Maybe someone can help me to store them on a server, where the provider is willing to face “The Cartel”?
Wolfgang Burtscher
w.burtscher@vlbg.at
(email not valid anymore)
Note: This nice “Prabhupada-anuga disciple” Wolfgang Burtscher was totally fried out from Iskcon, that he closed down his websites and left disgusted.
It is far too late for anyone to copywrite anything that was given to the world by Srila Prabhupada and the Brahma Sampradaya. These are the words and actions of non devotees. These are simply business men and business ladies who dress in cloth that is not. These activities are simply meant to agitate and distract so go around the barking and scratching of these dog like sub humans and keep following and repeating as Srila Prabhupada taught us.
Pay no attention to the threats and relish the challenge in them for that is the life blood of Hari Nam sankirtan. The Control Movement is the last phase of a lost generation of a human and sub human species that is coming into it’s end. So be a part of the the team that puts them to rest and revives the lost souls to their rightful place. Love of God, Krsna.
Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Everything that Srila Prabhupada wrote, his lectures, morning walks, letters etc. as well as photos him and the dieties and temples he opened are now declared open with free access. Repeat and duplicate at your leisure. I declare this!!
“Srila Prabhupada is OUR leader, the holy name is our main weapon and the original Bhagavad Gita As It Is, is our war plan.”
We yield to no one but the supreme Lord Krsna and his bona fide representative.
YS Hasti Gopala Dasa
I can scarcely believe that all this old junk is being rehashed as if it has any significance almost a decade later.
Back in the day the Internet was still fairly new and the BBTI tried desperately to keep a handle on what was happening with their copyrighted material. Already after 1998 the BBTI had kind of given up on it. I sure as hell did.
What is nowhere mentioned among the hysteria and conspiracy mongering is that anyone putting entire books or galleries of BBT paintings online in those days were initially contacted several times with proposals on how things could be worked out in a win-win situation — very simple solutions ranging from copyright notices to linking directly to material on BBTI servers. Further steps (cease-and-desist notices) were only taken upon repeated refusal and threats to the BBTI. If individuals or groups would then still refuse to cooperate, their ISPs were contacted. No one has ever been sued. Ever.
Any corporate, institutional or foundational entity out there follows the same procedures, but somehow certain “devotees” believe themselves and their ideas to transcend this reality. Perhaps the same motivation that underlies the pirating and reselling of the VedaBase?
Out of the dozens of people and groups contacted less than a handful chose to battle, rather than cooperate. Wolfgang Burtscher and Madhudvisa (who awarded himself 2nd initiation and sannyasa…) were the most vocal among these. They could have settled things to everyone’s satisfaction, but chose not to.
Now, it’s all water under the bridge. Madhudvisa continues to live in his own little world of conspiracies, poison and book changes, and Burtscher has left ISKCON quite a while ago.
I was in my late 20s back then and personally look back on this episode in ISKCON history as yet another excercise in petty infantility, something I have left behind me at the moment time moved into the new year of 1999. Hey, that’s more than a decade ago, people. Why havent you?
Currently, I couldn’t care less about ISKCON and its antics.
– Willem Vandenberg
People and children are like sponges. We absorb fractions of others behaviour by association, we expand our knowledge by being open minded to all that others have to say and of course much much more. Looking and hearing with a closed or distracted mind is a form of blindness as well as deafness. I am neither religiously or politically motivated even though I carry such a name. Amongst the so called preachers of the religious teachings are to be found liars, cheats and those who would use religion to disguise their true nature.
I am surrounded by people who utterly fail to grasp the concepts that I use.
Always be truthfull.
Never fool others so as not to be the loser.
Respect all, always.
Never miss an opportunity to offer to help.
What you say is linked to how you say it.
None of the above require religion.
Remember that goodness and kindness cost nothing. Surround them with it and they will absorb it.