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Court ruling backs internet copyright protection

Title: Court ruling backs internet copyright protection
Date: Monday, 29 January 1996
Publisher: Publisher's Weekly
Main source:

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REPRESENTATIVES OF THE Religious Technology Center, an affiliate of the Church of Scientology, are claiming a victory for copyright protection in cyberspace as the result of a ruling handed down earlier this month. The suit was brought by the RTC against a former member who posted the teachings of the church on the Internet. In her ruling Federal District Court judge Leonie Brinkema denied the argument by Arnaodo Lerma that his posting of large portions of the church's scripture were protected by fair use.

The ruling for RTC, follows a decision made last fall by Brinkema in which she determined that the use of selected excerpts from the documents by the Washington Post did not constitute a copyright infringement (News, Sept. 4, 1995). A decision on damages against Lerma had not been determined at press time, although any award is not expected to exceed attorney's fees.