Advertisement

German court copyrights 'Jesus messages'

Julie Colthorpe
Julie Colthorpe - [email protected]
German court copyrights 'Jesus messages'
Photo: Shutterstock

A court in western Germany has decided in favour of an American organization in a bizarre case which ruled divine inspiration from Jesus cannot be copyrighted to the son of God but to the human recipient of the message.

Advertisement

P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }

A verdict released by the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt (OLG) on Wednesday decided for a US claimant called the Foundation for Inner Peace. It sued a German foundation for copyright infringement after they published passages of text from a book called A Course in Miracles.

The book is a series of spiritual messages and teachings which the author claims are from Jesus and were recorded and published by Helen Schucman, an American professor of psychiatry.

Schucman began recording the text in the 1960s and during her lifetime stated that the text, a series of messages, came directly to her from Jesus in her dreams.

A Course in Miracles is under copyright protection, but quotes from the certain sections such as the “Workbook for Students” and the “Manual for Teachers” are in the public domain and can be quoted without authorization.

The German foundation took passages from the book and justified their actions on the reasoning that Schucman herself claimed not to be the author or the messages, and that the text was a result of the dictations she received from Jesus.

The defendant argued that Schucman played the role of assistant or typist in the development of the text without any room for personal creative leeway.

However, the Foundation for Inner Peace refused to accept this.

The court saw it as a breach of copyright law arguing that divine inspiration is legally attributable to their human recipient. 

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also