You know the Zappadmasana photo?
http://www.parishioners.org/Intolerance/armstrong.html
It's from the Marin Independent Journal of November 11, 1992. I wrote about it in 1997 on a.r.s. and it's been discussed a few times since.
For those who might not know, an asana is Sanskrit for a pose or posture, and padma is a lotus. Padmasana is the lotus posture. Zappa of course means cool with God.
I don't think I've mentioned on a.r.s. that in discovery in the Marin County gag litigation Scientology produced an 8 x 10 photo identical to the newspaper reproduction, which is what, maybe 2 x 3 inches.
I knew before Scientology produced the photo, from one reporter or another, that Gene Ingram had paid a visit to the paper, and I assumed it was his product. That is, that Ingram obtained the photograph from IJ, legally or illegally.
Recently another wog (R) and I were considering putting the same IJ photo on this page
so I called up the IJ to see if I could get a nice 8 x 10 glossy like they'd given the cult; which would look real fine, don't you think? I mean, it *is* a photo of me, and has nothing to do with Scientology. But Grady Ward's photo of Keith and me is way cool too though, isn't it.
I talked to the photo editor about the history of the photo, Scientology's use of it in black PR publications and on a Scientology hate site, and the 8 x 10 photo Ingram/Scientology had bought, stolen or tricked from the paper.
Well the photo editor was very interested in all this. On earlier occasions IJ staff had not seemed to care that their photo was being used by the Scientology crime cult, but this gentleman stated rather emphatically that the IJ protects its copyrighted photos and does not permit this kind of misappropriation.
I talked to him again a few days ago. He said that the IJ had communicated to webmaster@parishioners.org requesting that they take down the photo of me, but that the "webmaster" had not responded.
For now, and until I get permission, the IJ's photo won't be in The Gerry Armstrong Chronicles. But the photo is still up at http://www.parishioners.org/Intolerance/armstrong.html so go have a quick look before the crime cult folds and I disappear.
The IJ's photo editor was also very interested in print publications where the cult had used the newspaper's photo, and I just happened to have a dandy. This is the ""Freedom"" published by Scientology in 1998 which libels Dr. Stephen Kent and me, and which was distributed across Canada by the Globe & Mail as a "supplement."
Under the IJ's photo of me in ""Freedom"" is the statement:
[Quote]
Anti-religionist[sic] Stephen Kent (left) has drawn on numerous discredited[sic] and disreputable[sic] sources including Gerry Armstrong (above) a fugitive[sic] from justice who has boasted of his propensity for lying and fabrication.
[End Quote]
Here's that 1997 post: http://armstrong.xenu.ca/1997-11-10b.htm
I believe that some folks on a.r.s. have successfully dealt with the "Parishioners" regarding other copyright violations on the site. Perhaps there's something helpful to pass on the IJ.
You know what the Founder of the First Church of Appliantology said: When in doubt, ask yourself, "What would Frank do?"
(c) Gerry Armstrong
On Tue, 03 Apr 2001 09:52:48 -0700, Gerry Armstrong <armstrong@dowco.com> wrote in <nsvjctg0v80lji3oeb6hdledijdiiq90bq@4ax.com>:
>I talked to him again a few days ago. He said that the IJ had
>communicated to webmaster@parishioners.org requesting that they take
>down the photo of me, but that the "webmaster" had not responded.
The Journal needs to do it according to the rulez of the DMCA. Here is a Kobringram that I used successfully against the UFO cult:
To: doug@relaypoint.net, postmaster@relaypoint.net,
support@relaypoint.net, abuse@relaypoint.net, dns-admin@RELAYPOINT.NET,
webmaster@parishioners.org, cbbrown@PARISHIONERS.ORG,
spc@PARISHIONERS.ORG
Subject: Formal notification of copyright infringement
From: Tilman Hausherr <tilman@berlin.snafu.de>
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2000 19:38:15 +0200
Cc: tilman@berlin.snafu.de
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Formal notification of copyright infringement
The following material is infringing my copyright:
http://www.parishioners.org/Intolerance/images/petersen2.jpg
"Photograph of Bob Peterson, December 1998"
I, Tilman Hausherr, am the copyright holder of this photograph, and have never granted permission to or authorized whoever is running http://www.parishioners.org , nor would I ever have given them the permission. While that site is pro forma a client of Relaypoint.net, it is actually registered to a P.O.Box that is owned by Relaypoint.net itself.
To prove that I own this pictures, I have scanned the complete print, which gives you the possibility to see that mine are much larger, i.e. have more details on the sides. You can see it here:
http://home.snafu.de/tilman/copyrights/peterson_masked.jpg
This scan has been "masked" slightly, to prevent you from using it for even more copyright violations.
Should you have any questions, you can contact me by e-mail at tilman@berlin.snafu.de . I access my e-mail several times a day.
I hereby state under penalty of perjury that the information in this notification is accurate, and that I am authorized to act on behalf of the owner (=me!) of the exclusive right that is infringed.
This message has been signed with PGP. You can retrieve my public PGP key here: http://home.snafu.de/tilman/#pgp
This notice complies with the "elements of notification" described in the digital millenium copyright act. An excerpt is here: http://www.dtcomm.com/abuse.htm
The complete digital millenium copyright act can be read here: http://www-swiss.ai.mit.edu/6805/legislation/hr2281.html
Since you have now been put on notice, you do now have actual knowledge that the material on your system is infringing. Failure to act expeditiously to remove or disable access to the material strips you of the protections for ISPs provided by the DMCA. You worsen your situation by not even having a designated agent registered at the US copyright office.
For example, in the case RTC v. Henson (C-96-20271 RMW and C-96-20207 RMW), the defendant who engaged in Internet infringing activities lost a copyright infringement case brought against him. In May of 1998, a jury convened in the United States District Court in San Jose, CA and assessed damages in the amount of $75,000 against him for posting a copyrighted work on the Internet. Mr. Henson is also permanently enjoined against further infringements.
The courts have also held that an access provider which is informed that infringement is occurring through its system and does nothing to stop it can be liable for contributory infringement (RTC v. Netcom, 907 F. Supp. 1361 (N.D. Cal. 1995)).
I am not seeking to become involved in litigation, but I will take all necessary measures to protect my intellectual property rights. I presume that you would agree that we can resolve this amicably.
Sincerly yours,
Tilman Hausherr
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--
Tilman Hausherr [KoX, SP5.55] Entheta * Enturbulation * Entertainment
tilman@berlin.snafu.de http://www.xenu.de
Resistance is futile. You will be enturbulated. Xenu always prevails.
Find broken links on your web site: http://www.snafu.de/~tilman/xenulink.html
The Xenu bookstore: http://www.snafu.de/~tilman/bookstore.html
On Tue, 3 Apr 2001, Joe's Garage wrote:
> [snip]
> That picture is also in one of the issues of OSA-FREIHEIT for which Bob
> Minton just successfully sued Scientology. Due to his recent success in
> court, I don't think it can be downloaded from the official Scientology
> site any more, but there are plenty of copies around. The issue of
> OSA-FREIHEIT was October 23, 2000, "Also doch: Caberta nahm groessere
> Geldsumme!"
That was a particularly pitiful edition of OSA-FREIHEIT. Besides illicitly reproducing the photo of Gerry, it contained material for which Bob Minton successfully sued Scientology, AND it contained a ridiculous lie saying that HRES 588 had unanimously passed the International Relations Committee in Congress last year. In the case of that particular issue, doing nothing would have been better for Scientology than doing anything.
Joe Cisar: http://cisar.org/rfs0100.htm
Appreciate the finer things in life: http://www.leipzig-award.org
Save a Scientologist - http://mp3.cafepress.com/barbz
On-line book: http://members.tripod.com/German_Scn_News/has00.htm