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By Kent Larsen
LDS Church, Tanners To Settle Lawsuit Over GHI
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH -- The LDS Church and its long-time critics, Jerald and
Sandra Tanner, are poised to settle the Church's lawsuit over the Tanner's
publication of 17 pages of the General Handbook of Instructions (GHI) on
their website. The Tanners, who run the Utah-based Utah Lighthouse Ministry,
posted the GHI chapter on church discipline to their website in July 1999,
to aid those trying to leave the LDS Church, and the Church sued to get the
pages, and links to the GHI elsewhere, removed from the website.
Now, the parties appear to be ready to settle the lawsuit. Attorneys for the
LDS Church have drawn up a settlement agreement which requires the Tanners
to destroy all copies of the GHI they have and remove links to and any
mention of websites that contain the GHI. Under the agreement the LDS Church
would drop the lawsuit and its claim for damages. The Tanners have signed
the agreement, but the Church has not yet signed it.
The Tanners say they are settling because the lawsuit distracts from their
primary purpose. "We have entered into this settlement only to end
unnecessary, prolonged and expensive litigation," Jerald Tanner said. His
wife, Sandra added, "Our resources are better spent for their intended
purpose: to examine the claims of the LDS Church and contrast those
teachings with Christianity." They maintain that they did not violate the
copyright law, but an LDS Church statement says that the Church maintains
"its position -- as recognized by the federal court -- that the Tanners
illegally published church copyrighted materials."
After the LDS Church obtained an injunction last year forcing the Tanners to
take the GHI material off their website, the Tanners then posted a reader's
letter detailing other websites where the GHI could be obtained. This led to
a new injunction requiring that they take the links off their website,
claiming the links were contributing to the infringement of the Church's
copyright.
This injunction against links caused a controversy on the Internet, as free
speech advocates attacked the injunction. The San Francisco-based Electronic
Frontier Foundation was just one of many groups to attack the injuction,
calling it a threat to the free exchange of ideas and information on the
Internet. The Tanner's attorney, Brian Barnard, says he thinks the ruling
about links was a mistake, "Judge Campbell's decision we think was a mistake
and could have a broad influence on the Internet.
Under the proposed agreement, the injunction would be vacated, and replaced
by a permanent injunction that would keep the Tanners from posting the GHI
or links to it on their website.
Source:
LDS Suit Nearing Settlement
Salt Lake Tribune 1Dec00 N1
By Ray Rivera: Special to the Tribune
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