COMMON LAW EFFORT TO RESCUE SRILA PARBHUPADA’S COPYRIGHTS!

COMMON LAW EFFORT TO RESCUE SRILA PARBHUPADA’S COPYRIGHTS!

Please Participate in this Common Law Effort
to Rescue Srila Parbhupada’s Copyrights!

Anuttama Dasi: Please Join the Copyright Rescue Efforts!

Do you know in your heart that Srila Prabhupada is still with us and still actively cares about our spiritual advancement?  Do you feel that Srila Prabhupada is angry about the changes being made to his books?  Do you yearn for the blissful, cooperative mood that was ISKCON back when Srila Prabhupada was physically present?  If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, this article has great news: we can easily get the copyrights back into the control of the rightful trustees.  All we have to do is to follow the trail arranged by the Supreme Personality of Godhead and we can be a part of the team that rescues the most valuable asset in the world: Srila Prabhupada’s copyrights!  And if we work together to accomplish this, we will again be part of the spiritual movement that rocked the world.

Some readers might take offense at my above assertion that the current BBT trustees are not valid.  If you have any doubts, here is a quote from a lawsuit filed by the BBTI in 1997 against Hansadutta in which they attempted (at a cost of about a million dollars) to get the copyrights officially under control of the BBTI:

“BBTI believes that ISKCON, Inc. owned the copyrights outright because the works in question were “works for hire” created by ISKCON, Inc. ISKCON. Inc. supplied the employees who worked on the books with their materials and equipment. ISKCON, Inc. also supplied each of them with room and board and with a stipend for personal or family expenses. Such employees included those who worked in the art department, photography department, Sanskirt editors, Bengali editors, English editors, design and layout specialists, and proof readers, among others, BBTI contends that the California Trust Agreement dated May 29, 1972 did not create a valid trust and that the book publishing and distribution operations of the Movement were in fact never operated according to the provisions of that document. However, in the event the Court finds that that Trust Agreement created a legally valid trust which at the time in question (i.e., 1976) owned some or all of the copyrights registered at that time in the name Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, ISKCON, Inc. was the beneficiary of that trust, and therefore held beneficial title to those copyrights.” Transcript of Case No. BC 170617 WRITTEN OBJECTIONS AND RESPONSES BY PLAINTIFF AND

In other words, the BBTI claimed that Srila Prabhupada was an employee of ISKCON and as such did not own his copyrights.  Fortunately the court didn’t agree and the BBTI was forced to negotiate a settlement with Hansadutta Prabhu.  However now, due to that settlement which Hansadutta signed under duress, the copyrights are under the control of these people who have basically publicly claimed that Srila Prabhupada is a liar by asserting that he owned the copyrights.

The modern court system, which was set up to the benefit people in the modes of passion and ignorance, favors litigants with deep pockets.  An individual or group with very little money cannot expect to prevail in a court battle against a well-heeled opponent.  In the 1997-1998 court case of the BBTI v. Hansadutta, Hansadutta Prabhu had to settle because he ran out of money.  To fight Hansadutta, the BBTI probably spent over a million dollars and then had to fork over $350,000 to Hansadutta’s team.

Fighting the BBTI to regain the copyrights from within the modern court system is unlikely to be successful in the absence of a really huge war chest.  However, Srila Prabhupada has given us clues about how to easily and affordably achieve equity:

Morning Walk
“Varnasrama College”
—
March 14, 1974, Vrndavana

Visnujana: They even have a court system now. They started it when I was there last time. They have so many members that sometimes someone may commit some offense or something. They even have a judicial type of system where he comes before a board of members, older members.

Prabhupada: Yes. All fights should be decided by the board. That’s nice. And it will be accepted even by the court. Here, in India, there is such system. A board of five, ten men in the village, if there is some fight between two parties, whatever the board will decide that will be accepted in the court.

In the capacity of a director of the New Nandagram Society for Krishna Consciousness, I’ve presented a Common Law complaint to the acting-trustees of the BBT, the directors of the BBTI and the GBC.  This lawsuit alleges breach of fiduciary duty, accounting (so that we can know what is being done with the BBT money), conversion (theft), conspiracy (the GBC and the BBTI’s policies that have caused so many older devotees to leave the institution, ISKCON), constructive fraud and fraud.

Common Law is accepted by every country and a judgement/verdict given by a Common Law Court may be enforced anywhere.  The defendants cannot hide behind a corporate shield because they are being tried as natural persons and their personal assets are at stake.

Anyone reading this who is excited at the prospect of getting justice for the wrongs committed to Srila Prabhupada’s movement can participate in helping this action become a resounding success.  The individuals who have committed these crimes rely on disinformation and secrecy.  Just spreading the information in the lawsuit will help the effort.  We also need:

• Public Relation strategists
• Newspaper article writers/promoters
• Video editors/vidoegraphers
• Strategists
• Fund raisers
• Enthusiasm!

The trial will be held in Lewis County, Washington.  The date is not determined yet but will be decided when the defendants answer the lawsuit and we begin discovery, a process in which we will be able to, for instance, examine the BBT book keeping efforts.

There are no lawyers to be paid in a Common Law action, but the needs to be an adjudicator with knowledge of law to ensure that the rules of evidence are stringent enough for the case to be enforced by the regular court system.  There are some other costs involved such as prasadam for the 12 randomly selected jurors, a venue, a court reporter and possibly mediation costs. So, naturally donations are very appreciated.

You can read the entire lawsuit at:
https://wordpress.com/page/newnandagramcowprotection.wordpress.com/575 (Password needed)

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Please also see:
LAWSUIT AGAINST THE LEADERS OF ISKCON