Monopolies for Monks: HOCNA wins suit vs. AB Gregory of CO

[Maria]

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/ ... onopolies/

Anyone who copies or uses works from the HOCNA jurisdiction (http://www.homb.org) could face a lawsuit unless permission is granted and/or fees are paid. The TAC blogger claims that using the words "Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal" might even be considered a copyright violation by HTM. If this were to be true, then this is serious.

The sad conclusion of this article:

It’s hard to see the monastery’s actions as motivated by anything other than personal resentment. And it isn’t behavior one would expect from a community concerned with saving souls.

I am hoping that this thread can stay here in the news section so that people can be informed of the sheer magnitude of this juridical decision. Our freedom of worship might be infringed not by the government, but by an Orthodox monastery.

[jgress]

This can stay in the public forum provided that we avoid discussions of the canonical status of any jurisdiction. But I'm moving this to another forum since this isn't strictly about monasticism.

[Prodromos]

I read the 75 page decision of the court, and there is certainly nothing there that Is going to infringe on anyone's freedom of worship. The decision is actually a very sound and serious analysis of the copyright issues raised in this matter. Whether one agrees with the outcome or whatever your feelings about HTM may be, one's ability to worship will not be impeded. There are other English translations of the works mentioned in this case. If one prefers the HTM translation then according to the court you can't post it to your website and make it freely available - that's all. You can still buy it and use the HTM edition at home or in your parish. If you don't like the HTM translations (or don't like HTM) there are other options available.

There is absolutely nothing in the ruling to suggest that HTM owns copyright in "Holy God, Holy Mighty..." based on the quality of the analysis in the ruling, I suspect that if anyone were to make a claim like that the court would have none of it.

I take issue with the flippant and irreverent tone of the American Conservative article. It comes across as a silly and judgemental story about those weird Orthodox. Even though I'm not a member of either of the jurisdictions involved, I am offended by the non Orthodox causally judging the motives of Orthodox Christians.

[Maria]

Thanks for reading the court decision and sharing your thoughts on the matter. It is very much appreciated.

Yesterday, I corresponded with a member of the clergy who is very knowledgeable about this case, and he agrees with you. Anyone who would download hundreds of pages of pdf documents on their website without first obtaining permission is certainly violating copyright laws. On most forums, such as Euphrosynos Cafe, in order to observe the copyright laws, one cannot quote more than two to three sentences when quoting from websites, online articles, print periodicals, or books.

One has to wonder whether The American Conservative (TAC) blogger even bothered to read the 75 page court decision at all, or whether he merely accepted AB Gregory's word. After reading all the comments generated at TAC, his blog article probably did a lot more harm than good, especially after all the OCA bad press, which was one of the comments. After reading such articles, people must wonder if we Orthodox Christians are members of cults. It is unfortunate that the two parties could not have settled out of court and thus have avoided all this bad press. Lord have mercy.

By the way, how did you obtain a copy of the 75 page court decision?
Does one have to be an attorney or student of law in order to access it?

I read the 75 page decision of the court, and there is certainly nothing there that Is going to infringe on anyone's freedom of worship. The decision is actually a very sound and serious analysis of the copyright issues raised in this matter. Whether one agrees with the outcome or whatever your feelings about HTM may be, one's ability to worship will not be impeded. There are other English translations of the works mentioned in this case. If one prefers the HTM translation then according to the court you can't post it to your website and make it freely available - that's all. You can still buy it and use the HTM edition at home or in your parish. If you don't like the HTM translations (or don't like HTM) there are other options available.

There is absolutely nothing in the ruling to suggest that HTM owns copyright in "Holy God, Holy Mighty..." based on the quality of the analysis in the ruling, I suspect that if anyone were to make a claim like that the court would have none of it.

I take issue with the flippant and irreverent tone of the American Conservative article. It comes across as a silly and judgemental story about those weird Orthodox. Even though I'm not a member of either of the jurisdictions involved, I am offended by the non Orthodox causally judging the motives of Orthodox Christians.

[Prodromos]

The court's ruling can be found here

It's too bad that HTM hasn't yet properly published some of the items mentioned in the ruling, they would certainly be nice to have! (e.g. the dismissal hymns and the Octoehos).

[SolarFlare]

Monks who have been given so much light and illumination about the truth, and are supposed to be dead to the world, the flesh, and the devil, should never be so vindictive. They should love their enemies, and trust God in all things. HOCNA should not have sued, because it is contrary to Scripture. Why do they think themselves so important that they feel they have some greater insight than the Apostle Paul and Holy Scripture?

"Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?...But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers...Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?...Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren. (See, 1 Corinthians 6:1-8).

Additionally, Archbishop Gregory should not have defended himself.

"And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also." (Matthew 5:40).

[jgress]

This concerns matters that are now strictly speaking outside True Orthodoxy, since HOCNA has fallen into heresy and Abp Gregory's canonical status is not recognized by anyone other than himself. But I'm locking this thread all the same since it's old news and to avoid unnecessary polemics.