Religious Tech. Ctr. v. Netcom On-Line Commun. Servs. - 923 F. Supp. 1231 (N.D. Cal. 1995)

Rule:

To establish copyright infringement, a plaintiff must demonstrate, pursuant to 17 U.S.C.S. §§ 106(1)-(3) & (5) and 17 U.S.C.S. § 501(a), that (1) it owns a valid copyright and (2) the defendant violated any of its exclusive rights, including, inter alia, the rights to reproduce or prepare derivative works from the original, or to distribute or display copies publicly.

Facts:

Plaintiffs, two Scientology-affiliated organizations claiming copyright and trade secret protection for the writings of the Church's founder, L. Ron Hubbard, brought this suit against defendant Dennis Erlich ("Erlich"), a former Scientology minister turned vocal critic of the Church, who allegedly put plaintiffs' protected works onto the Internet.

Issue:

Did the organizations show a likelihood of success on the merits of their copyright claims?

Answer:

Yes.

Conclusion:

The district court granted the organizations’ preliminary injunction motion, finding (a) strong probability of success on the merits given the validity of its copyright registration, the fact that Erlich copied the heart of most of the copyrighted materials he copied, and the fact that Erlich failed to include much editorial commentary with respect to the materials; and (b) likelihood of irreparably injury to plaintiff if Erlich’s conduct continued was presumed. The court further held that citing Erlich for contempt was inappropriate, and that the clerk's order issuing a writ of seizure, although permitted by Supreme Court Copyright Rules, violated U.S. Const. amend. IV since it lacked the requisite particularity (it by its literal terms permitting the seizure of non-infringing as well as infringing material).