Page:Urantia Foundation v. Burton.pdf/2

218 Action by The Urantia Foundation, against Robert Burton, for copyright infringement and unfair competition, in which defendant counterclaims for declaration of copyright invalidity. On cross-motions for partial summary judgment. Plaintiff’s motion granted.

Miles, Chief Judge.

This is an action for copyright infringement and unfair competition brought by the Plaintiff, the Urantia Foundation, under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1338 against the defendant, Robert Burton, claiming that he has infringed its copyright on The Urantia Book by reproducing sections of the book and distributing them to public officials in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere, and by having the book translated into Spanish for publication. The defendant admits the actions alleged by the plaintiff and as a defense challenges the validity of the plaintiff’s copyright. By counterclaim the defendant asks for declaratory judgment declaring the plaintiff’s copyright void. Both parties have moved for summary judgment as to the question of copyright infringement. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(c) and (d), and by agreement of the parties, the questions of unfair competition and damages have not been considered in deciding these motions. Those matters will be decided by agreement of the parties or by later proceedings in this Court. The motions for summary judgment were decided under the copyright law as it existed prior to enactment of the Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. Sec. 101 et seq., which became effective on January 1, 1978.

The facts are essentially undisputed. The Urantia Book came into existence between 1926 and 1935 and was originally in the possession of Dr. William S. Sadler, Sr. of Chicago. The book, which consists of 196 separate papers, was read to a group of