Jehovah's Witnesses Sue Former Jehovah's Witness for
Witnessing About Jehovah's Witnesses
A former Jehovah's Witness
decided to show the world what JW's REALLY believe,
so he brought together quotes from various publications that the Watchtower has
released over the years.
Check it out at http://quotes.watchtower.ca
Did they ever claim the
world would end in 1914? Yep. Did they ever claim that the dates they published
were "God's Dates", and not of their own making? You bet. Would they
like the world to forget they ever said those things? OH YEAH!
So in a beautifully ironic
move, they have actually SUED someone for distributing material from the
Watchtower. To sweeten the deal, this guy used to be one of the volunteers that
went door-to-door offering the Watchtower for contributions. Now he's offering up
selected in-context quotes for FREE, and they are suing him.
Some of their reasons listed
in the court document are hilarious. They consider the publishing of these
quotes "embarrassing", with the potential to cause "loss of
reputation and goodwill". So… if people know what JW's
teach, it will damage their reputation? Prove embarrassing? LOL!
The court filing is below.
Any comments on this material can be sent to editor@TheBentinel.com and will be
passed on to the web site author.
Court File No. 05-CV-
296308PD2
SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE
BETWEEN:
WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT
SOCIETY OF AND
WATCHTOWER BIBLE AND TRACT
SOCIETY OF
Plaintiffs
and
[Quotes]
Defendant
STATEMENT OF CLAIM
TO THE DEFENDANT
A LEGAL PROCEEDING HAS BEEN
COMMENCED AGAINST YOU by the plaintiffs. The claim made against you is set out
in the following pages.
IF YOU WISH TO DEFEND THIS
PROCEEDING, you or an Ontario lawyer acting for you must prepare a statement of
defence in Form 18A prescribed by the Rules of Civil
Procedure, serve it on the plaintiff’s lawyer or, where the plaintiff does not
have a lawyer, serve it on the plaintiff, and file it, with proof of service in
this court office, WITHIN TWENTY DAYS after this statement of claim is served
on you, if you are served in Ontario.
If you are served in another
province or or in the , the
period for serving and filing your statement of defence
is forty days. If you are served outside and the , the
period is sixty days.
Instead of serving and
filing a statement of defence, you may serve and file
a notice of intent to defend in Form 18B prescribed by the Rules of Civil
Procedure. This will entitle you to ten more days within which to serve and
file your statement of defence.
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IF YOU FAIL TO DEFEND THIS
PROCEEDING, JUENT MAY BE GIVEN
AGAINST YOU IN YOUR ABSENCE
AND WITHOUT FURTHER NOTICE TO
YOU. IF YOU WISH TO DEFEND THIS PROCEEDING BUT ARE UNABLE
TO
PAY LEGAL FEES, LEGAL AID
MAY BE AVAILABLE TO YOU BY
CONTACTING
A LOCAL LEGAL AID OFFICE.
Date SEPT
2/05
Signed by “F.YOUSSEF” Local registrar
Address of Court Office
10th Floor
M5G 1E6
TO: [Quotes]
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CLAIM
1.
The Plaintiffs claim:
(a) a
declaration that the Defendant
(i)
has infringed the copyright in the Plaintiffs’
Religious Works as defined below, contrary to sections 3, 27, 34 and 35 of the Copyright
Act;
(ii) has directed public
attention to his wares, services and business in such a way as to cause or be
likely to cause confusion in Ontario with the wares, services and business of
the Plaintiffs, contrary to sections 7(b) and 7(c) of the Trade-marks Act
and the common law tort of passing off;
(iii) has
breached the contract relating to use of the Plaintiffs’ “Watchtower Library on
CD-ROM” (the “CD-ROM”), which contains reproductions from the Plaintiffs’
Religious Works;
(iv)
has unlawfully misappropriated, used and disclosed confidential information
contained in the CD-ROMs;
(b) an interim,
interlocutory and permanent injunction restraining the Defendant from using the
domain name “watchtower.ca”, or any other domain name, trade name or trade mark
that is confusing with the Plaintiffs’ The Watchtower trade mark;
(c) an
order requiring the Defendant to assign the domain name “watchtower.ca” to the
Plaintiff Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Canada
(d) an order requiring the
Defendant to deliver up, or destroy under oath, within 3 days of the date of
the Order, all reproductions of the Plaintiffs’ copyright materials, including
the original and all copies of
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the CD-ROMs, or any part thereof, in any form
whatsoever, including on the web site “watchtower.ca”;
(e) an accounting of the
Defendant’s profits arising from the sale of all reproductions of the CD-ROMs,
or any part thereof, and any other reproduction or use of the Plaintiffs’
copyright materials;
(f) damages
for copyright infringement and conversion;
(g) damages
for trade mark infringement and passing off;
(h) damages
for breach of contract and breach of confidence in an amount to be determined
prior to the commencement of trial;
(i)
punitive damages in the amount of $100,000;
(j) pre-judgment
and post-judgment interest pursuant to the provisions of sections 128 and 129
of the Courts of Justice Act, R.S.O. 1990,
c. C.43 as amended and any
recoverable taxes on the amounts awarded including G.S.T.;
(k) the
Plaintiffs’ costs of this action on a substantial indemnity basis; and
(l) such
further relief as to this Honourable Court seems
just.
A. THE PARTIES
2. The Plaintiff Watch Tower
Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania (“Watch Tower of Pennsylvania”) is a
non-stock, non-profit corporation incorporated in 1884 under the laws of the
State of , It has a place of business at 25 , Watch
Tower of is one of the corporations used by Jehovah’s Witnesses to promote
religious worship and assist in carrying out their religious objectives.
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3. of is the publisher and
owner of copyright and trade marks in the religious publications of Jehovah’s
Witnesses, including all magazines published under the trade marks “The
Watchtower” and “Awake!” (collectively, the
“Religious Works”).
4. The Plaintiff Watch Tower
Bible and Tract Society of Canada (“Watch Tower of Canada”) is a non-profit
federal corporation used by the religious community of Jehovah’s Witnesses in
to promote public religious worship.
5. of ’s
head office is located at 13893 Highway 7 in (), . of
has licensed Watch Tower of Canada to reproduce and distribute the Religious
Works and to use The Watchtower and Awake! trade
marks.
6. The
Defendant [Quotes] is an individual residing in ,
. [Quotes] registered
the domain name “watchtower.ca”, and
operates a website at “http://quotes.watchtower.ca”, that
reproduces the
Religious
Works of the Plaintiffs. [Quotes]
had been one of Jehovah’s
Witnesses until 1998 when he
ceased his association with Jehovah’s
Witnesses.
B. PLAINTIFFS’ PRINT
PUBLICATIONS
7. In July 1879, the
religious community of Jehovah’s Witnesses began publishing and distributing
the monthly religious periodical Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s
Presence. The first issue had a circulation of 6,000 copies.
8. Jehovah’s Witnesses began
their public ministry in in 1880, discussing the
Bible and distributing the magazine Zion’s Watch Tower.
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9. On ,
the name of the periodical Zion’s Watch Tower was changed to its present
title, The Watchtower.
10. Today, The Watchtower
is the primary Bible study aid for members of the faith, is published
bi-weekly, and currently has an average printing of 26.4 million copies. For
each of the last 10 years the annual circulation in of the English edition of The
Watchtower has been in excess of 8,000,000 copies.
11. Awake! has been published continuously by Watch Tower of
Pennsylvania since 1946, is a general-interest religious magazine, and has an
average printing of 22.8 million copies. For each of the last 10 years the
annual circulation in of the English edition of Awake! has been in excess of 7,000,000 copies.
12. The title of each
periodical is a trade mark within the meaning of section 2 of the Trade-marks
Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. T-13. By virtue of very
significant use of The Watchtower and Awake! trade
marks for generations, these marks have become extremely well-known across ,
including , and are distinctive exclusively of the Plaintiffs and their
religious publications.
13. Each edition of The
Watchtower and Awake! is a compilation of
original literary works and artistic works. Each compilation was created by
Jehovah’s Witnesses pursuant to a contract of service, in the course of a
religious vocation or divine calling, with Watch Tower of Pennsylvania.
Pursuant to section 13(3) of the Copyright Act, Watch Tower of
Pennsylvania is the first owner of all copyright in the Religious Works as
“compilations”, within the meaning of s. 2 of the Copyright Act.
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14. The literary and
artistic works contained in each Religious Work were created by Jehovah’s
Witnesses pursuant to a contract of service, in the course of a religious
vocation or divine calling, with Watch Tower of Pennsylvania. Pursuant to
section 13(3) of the Copyright Act, Watch Tower of Pennsylvania is the
first owner of all copyright in the literary and artistic works contained in
each Religious Works.
15. The Plaintiffs’
copyrights are protected in pursuant to various international treaties
including the Berne Convention and the Universal Copyright Convention.
16. At a minimum, each
Religious Work published within the last fifty years, and each literary and
artistic work contained therein, is entitled to copyright in
, pursuant to Section 6 of the Copyright Act.
C. PLAINTIFFS’ CD-ROMS
AND WEB SITE
17. In 1993, Watch Tower of
Pennsylvania produced the Watchtower Library on CD-ROM, an electronic
compilation of most of its religious materials published since 1950. Subsequent
up-dated versions have been released (collectively, the “CD-ROMs”).
18. Pursuant to Section
13(3) of the Copyright Act, Watch Tower of Pennsylvania is the owner of
all copyrights in the CD-ROMs as “compilations” and computer programs.
19. The CD-ROMs are intended
for personal use and study by Jehovah’s Witnesses. They include a License
Agreement that each user must agree to before being able to use the CD-ROMs.
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20. The License Agreement
states that each CD-ROM is for the personal use of Jehovah’s Witnesses only,
and prohibits inter alia any reproduction of
the CD-ROM, any posting of the contents of the CD-ROM on the Internet, or any
dissemination of large sections of the CD-ROM to anyone who has not agreed to
be bound by the terms of the License Agreement.
21. The content of the
CD-ROMs is not readily available to the general public. Some of the content is
intended only for Jehovah’s Witnesses, and the introductory letter that
precedes the License Agreement in the CD-ROMs restricts their use to Jehovah’s
Witnesses. The Plaintiffs have protected the confidentiality of the CD-ROMs by
requiring each user to agree, prior to use, to the terms of a License
Agreement, which restricts use of the CD-ROMs and their software to Jehovah’s
Witnesses, Accordingly, the CD-ROMs constitute confidential information.
22. Since 1997, Watch Tower
of Pennsylvania has operated a website at http://www.watchtower.org. This is
the official web site of Jehovah’s Witness. The website reproduces Bible-based
tracts, brochures, and articles from several issues of The Watchtower
and Awake periodicals.
23. The website at
http://www.watchtower.org is accessed by millions of
Internet users each year,
including thousands who are located in .
Accordingly, the domain name
“watchtower.org” has become well-known
in , and is associated exclusively with of
.
D. THE DEFENDANTS
ACTIVITIES
24. In November 2000, the
Defendant registered the domain name “watchtower.ca”. The domain name was
inactive until about March 2004.
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25. In March 2004, Internet users
who accessed the “watchtower.ca” website, were
redirected to the “http://quotes.watchtower.ca” website, which is also operated
by the Defendant.
26. The Defendant registered
the domain name “watchtower.ca” in order to trade on the significant reputation
and goodwill associated with the Plaintiffs’ well-known The Watchtower
trade mark. Specifically, the Defendant sought to misdirect Internet users who
were looking for the official website of Jehovah’s Witnesses in
, to the Defendant’s web site.
27. The Defendant’s web site
also employs hidden words or metatags in the web
pages, in order to misdirect Internet users who are looking for the Plaintiffs’
official website to the Defendant’s website. The metatags
used by the Defendant include “Jehovah’s Witnesses,” “Jehovah,” “Witness,”
“Watchtower,” “,” “International Bible Students” (the former name of Jehovah’s
Witnesses) and “Official” The only reason for the Defendant to use the word
“official” in its metatags is to create confusion
among Internet users.
28. The Defendant’s web site
reproduces and exhibits the Plaintiffs’ Religious Works, and specifically, all
or substantially all of over 450 literary and artistic works that were first
published between 1955 and the present.
29. The Defendant obtained these
copies by reproducing the contents of the Plaintiffs’ CD-ROMs, contrary to the
explicit terms of the License Agreement to which the Defendant agreed, and
contrary to the Plaintiffs’ exclusive rights pursuant to section 3 of the Copyright
Act.
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30. The Defendant’s purpose
in operating the website is not “for the purpose of research and scholarship”,
as suggested on the web site. There can be no “fair dealing” when the Defendant
(i) has appropriated the Plaintiffs’ trade mark for
use in the domain name “watchtower.ca”; (ii) has sought to misdirect Internet
users to its web site by the use of confusing Metatags;
(iii) has reproduced thousands of pages from the Religious Works; (iv) has
reproduced dozens of articles and dozens of pieces of artwork in their
entirety; (v) has not placed any restrictions on others’ use of the web site,
but has in fact encouraged others to archive or download the entire web site,
and (vi) has created a search engine that selectively quotes from some of the
Religious Works but not others.
31. The Defendant’s main
purpose in operating the website is not “fair use”, but rather to try to
embarrass the Plaintiffs by quoting selectively from some of the Religious
Works in a manner that misleads Internet users as to the teachings of Jehovah’s
Witnesses in .
32. By his actions as
aforesaid, the Defendant:
(a) is
infringing the Plaintiffs’ copyright in the Religious Works and in the CD-ROMs,
pursuant to Sections 3, 27, 34 and 35 of the Copyright Act;
(b) is directing public
attention to his Internet website in such a way as to cause or be likely to
cause confusion in Canada, and specifically in Ontario, with the services of
the Plaintiffs, contrary to sections 7(b) and 7(c) of the Trade-marks Act
and the common law;
(c) is
breaching the License Agreement governing use of the CD ROMs; and
(d) has
misappropriated, used and disclosed the Plaintiffs’ confidential information in
the CD-ROMs.
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33. Despite repeated requests,
the Defendant has refused to cease his unlawful activities, and will continue
to violate the Plaintiffs’ rights as aforesaid unless restrained by this Honourable Court.
34. As a result of his
activities, the Plaintiffs have suffered and will continue to suffer damages,
including but not limited to loss of reputation and goodwill.
35. The Defendant’s willful
and malicious conduct, including his continued refusal to stop his infringing
activities, justifies an award of punitive and exemplary damages.
36. The Plaintiffs propose
that this action be tried at .
Date of
issue: SEPT
2/05
BERESKIN & PARR
Barristers & Solicitors
,
M5H 3Y2
Jonathan Colombo
L.S.U.C. #32188W
Tel: (416) 957-1613
Fax: (416) 361-1398
Solicitors for the plaintiffs
(Form 4C under the Rules)
WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT
SOCIETY et al .
Plaintiffs
and
[Quotes]
Defendant
(Short title of proceeding)
Court file
no. 05-CV- 296308PD2
SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE
Proceeding commenced at
STATEMENT OF CLAIM
____________________________
DYE & DURHAM CFS
Name, address, telephone and
fax numbers of solicitor or party
BERESKIN & PARR
Barristers and Solicitors
M5H 3Y2
Jonathan G. Colombo
L.S.U.C. #16940W
Tel: (416) 364-7311
Fax: (416) 361-1398
Solicitors for the
Plaintiffs
----- END STATEMENT OF CLAIM ------