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Clarification
on issues regarding disputes over
the copyright of A Course in Miracles
For more information on the disputes over the copyright of A Course in Miracles see the site map on Joe Jesseph's web site.
Copyright
news
June 2004
from:www.acim.org
On April 6, 2004, Judge Sweet of the United States District Court for
the Southern
District of New York ruled that the first published version of the book
A Course
in Miracles (now referred to as "the Criswell Edition") was, in
1975,
placed into the public domain. Judgment to this effect was entered on
April 27, 2004.
As a result, the registered copyright protecting that version of the
work (No. A693944)
was rendered void.
The April judgment does not mean, however, that the document that has
been known
for the last 29 years as A Course in Miracles -- which
consists of the
Text (including a Preface), the Workbook for Students, and the Manual
for Teachers
with a Clarification of Terms incorporated as the last section of the
Manual --
is now in the public domain. In fact, the voided copyright did not
cover the Clarification
of Terms or the Text Preface, both of which were added after copyright
No. A693944
was registered (and both of which are covered by a later copyright that
is still
in force.) What this means as a legal matter is that any portions of
the current
copyrighted version of A Course in Miracles that are different
from the version
of the Course formerly protected by copyright No. A693944 remain
protected by copyright.
Thus, neither the Clarification of Terms nor the Text Preface are in
the public domain;
nor are the changes, corrections, numbering system and additions that
were made in
the Second Edition of the Course. (The additions include some
paragraphs and sentences --
about 1500 words -- that were inadvertently omitted over many
years of retyping.
More information on these differences is available at
http://www.miraclestudies.net/Errata.html.)
The New Christian Church of Full Endeavor specifically asked Judge
Sweet to void
a number of Course-related copyrights, including the copyrights
covering the version
of A Course in Miracles that includes the Clarification of
Terms and Text
Preface, the Second Edition of the Course, the Urtext, and Helen
Schucman's unpublished
writings. However, no evidence was presented at trial to suggest (let
alone prove)
that any other Course-related works were ever subject to a general
distribution that
might have placed them in the public domain, and Judge Sweet rejected
the request
to void the additional copyrights. Instead, he limited his ruling to
the published
work encompassed by copyright No. A693944. Consequently, the Second
Edition, the
Urtext, and the Hugh Lynn Cayce versions of A Course in Miracles
(to the extent
they differ from the Criswell edition); "The Gifts of God" (which
contains
Helen's poetry and a fourteen-page scribing which bears the same name
as the book);
the supplemental pamphlets entitled "The Song of Prayer" and
"Psychotherapy:
Purpose, Process and Practice"; all of Helen Schucman's unpublished
writings;
and the current and future foreign translations of A Course in
Miracles are
not in the public domain as a result of this court decision.
Because we have, for many years now, published the version of A
Course in Miracles
that contains the Clarification of Terms and the Text Preface, we want
to make sure
that people understand that this version of the Course has not been
placed into the
public domain as a result of the lawsuit -- and, particularly,
that certain
portions of that version of the work remain protected by copyright. It
is, therefore,
not accurate to indicate that the "Course" (as it has been known for
the
last 29 years) can now be freely published by anyone who wishes to do
so. A Course
in Miracles as published by the Foundation for Inner Peace
represents the form
of publication approved by both Helen Schucman and William Thetford,
both of whom
lived for many years after the initial publication of the Course, and
both of whom,
we believe, would have approved of the improvements represented by the
Second Edition.
As always, we will be happy to respond to any inquiries regarding this
matter.
www.acim.org
____________________________________________________________
THE EARLY MANUSCRIPT OF "A COURSE IN MIRACLES"
GIVEN TO HUGH LYNN CAYCE
by
Kenneth Wapnick, Ph.D.
January, 2000
In light of the misinformation circulating about the early manuscript
of "A
Course in Miracles" -- referred to as the "Hugh Lynn Version" -- I
believe clarification is required. Let me begin by presenting the facts
that relate
to the history of that early manuscript. I am here summarizing what I
have already
detailed in my book "Absence
from Felicity:
The Story
of Helen Schulman and Her Scribing of A Course in Miracles," and in
more succinct
fashion in the preface to the pamphlet "Errata for the Second Edition
of
A Course
in Miracles."
Helen took down her internal dictation in stenographic notebooks, using
her own version
of shorthand, and dictated these notes to Bill. Helen intentionally
omitted some
material while dictating to Bill, who typed Helen's dictation. We later
termed this
the "Urtext," a word usually used to denote the original manuscript of
a later published literary work. At that time, Helen and Bill were in
occasional
contact with Hugh Lynn Cayce, son of the renowned psychic Edgar Cayce,
and President
of the Association for Research and Enlightenment in Virginia Beach.
Helen valued
his opinion and he was most interested in her work. For that reason,
Helen shared
the material with him to secure his advice and comments.
In 1972, Helen and Bill gave to Hugh Lynn a copy of what was then the
completed manuscript.
This is what has been called the "Hugh Lynn Version. "It was made clear
to Hugh Lynn that Helen and Bill were providing these pages for his
personal review
and comments, and that the manuscript was *not* to be shared with
others except for
his son, Charles Thomas. Hugh Lynn died in 1983, but Charles Thomas
Cayce, current
President of the A.R.E., recalls conversations in which this point --
so central
to Helen's feelings of privacy -- was understood by all parties
involved.
After seeing some of the early and later chapters of the text, Hugh
Lynn commented
to Helen and Bill that he thought that perhaps more than one source was
involved,
presumably since the writing styles were so discrepant, especially when
one compared
the early scribing -- what now roughly constitutes the first four
chapters of the
text -- with what came later.
Hugh Lynn's observation goes to the heart of the matter of the editing,
and how and
why it proceeded. Again, "Absence
from Felicity"
goes
into this in more detail, so that interested readers may wish to
consult it if they
so choose. There are two relevant issues here, and they bear on what
Helen and Bill
(and later I) came to refer to as Helen's "scribal uncertainty" or
"pedagogical
caution" in introducing a thought system that was so alien to the
world's thinking:
1) The early months of the dictation -- again, we are speaking of what
are now roughly
the first four chapters of the text -- were experienced by Helen as a
dialogue or
conversation between her and her inner Voice, which she identified as
Jesus, in which
the actual Course material itself was only *a portion* of the
dictation. Personal
material -- meant only for Helen and Bill -- was part of what she had
written down,
and it was her very specific guidance that this was not to be included
in the published
version. This personal material also included many references to
psychologists and
various psychological issues and subjects, which were also not meant
for the public,
but rather were to help Helen and Bill make the bridge between their
psychological
understanding and that of the Course.
2) In addition to the interspersal of the personal material and
discussion of various
psychological issues with the Course teaching, there is the issue of
Helen's "scribal
uncertainty" and pedagogical caution. These
interferences certainly
affected her writing during this period. I provided one such example in
"Absence
from Felicity," where the story of the so-called "celestial speed-up"
message is recounted. This "explanation," which Helen never said came
specifically
from Jesus, but rather was "given" her, speaks of people losing more
than
they were gaining, necessitating a "celestial speed-up" in which
certain
people were being called back -- including Helen and Bill -- to lend
their talents
on behalf of the "plan." Helen later insisted upon removing this
inconsistent material.
Therefore, what was taken out of the original material was meant to
be taken out
by Helen, as instructed by her Voice, since it detracted from the
actual teaching
message of "A Course in Miracles," and could have seemed to contradict
that message, thus confusing its students. Helen and Bill had removed
most of this
material by the time I saw the early manuscript. However, Helen
felt that additional
material needed to be removed for the published edition. Helen made
these deletions
and changes and did not truly consider them to be important, as they
were never meant
to be part of the published Course.
Further, obvious editorial revisions were also necessary --
punctuation, paragraphing,
capitalization, etc. -- all of which are documented in my book. I might
also add
that the editing that Helen and I completed was Helen's work. Any
thought that
it was I who did the editing could only be held by someone who clearly
did not know
Helen. As I have said many, many times, Helen was
extraordinarily protective
of "A Course in Miracles," and would not have allowed anything to be
done
with the material without her approval. Indeed, during our long period
of editing,
I functioned more or less as Helen's secretary, implementing the
changes that she
wished.
Again, anyone who knew Helen (and Bill), would appreciate the fact that
"A Course in Miracles," as it is published,
reflects
the guidance that she followed and then implemented. Therefore, readers
of the published
Course (especially now that the second edition includes the earlier
inadvertent typing
omissions) can rest assured that they have before them in the published
edition the
expression of what was given to Helen by her inner Voice, the true
teachings of "A
Course in Miracles."
In 1990, Louis Schulman, Helen's widowed husband, assigned to me and I
then copyrighted
The Unpublished Writings of Helen Schulman, which, among other things,
included the
notebooks and Urtext, as well as all subsequent revisions up to but not
including
the published version. This was done to protect Helen's frequently
expressed wish
for privacy, to which she zealously clung and with which Louis
identified. Helen,
Bill, and I felt that the long process of editing -- from notebook to
publication
-- did full justice to a public edition of "A Course in Miracles,"
while
at the same time respecting Helen's and Bill's wish and inner guidance
that the personal
and other material not be included in the public version.
Therefore, even though Helen's guidance was to eliminate both the
personal material
and confusing language from the final edition, the published Course
clearly is intended
to be read and studied by all students of "A Course in Miracles." All
of
us at the Foundation
for A Course in Miracles and Foundation for Inner Peace earnestly
hope that Helen's fervent wish for privacy will be honored and
respected by all Course
students. This can only be accomplished if the early manuscript of "A
Course
in Miracles" remains unpublished.
In summary
1) The early
manuscript provided
to Hugh Lynn Cayce was the incompletely
edited combination
of the notebooks, Urtext, Helen's first retyping, and the
first complete
draft (1972).
2) This
manuscript was given
to Hugh Lynn Cayce by Helen for comment only,
with the understanding
that it would not be shown to the general public.
3) After 1972,
Helen, with
my assistance as well as Bill's, personally
revised the
manuscript to ensure that the final (published) version of "A
Course in Miracles"
had eliminated:
a - personal guidance and information meant only for her and Bill
b - contradictory or confusing metaphysical and psychological concepts
that she had introduced, especially in the
first four
chapters of the text
c - various other similar material, including awkward, confusing, or
inconsistent language
4) At
Louis Schucman's
request, I copyrighted "The Unpublished Writings of
Helen
Schulman" in 1990.
In
the fall of 2001 Ken Wapnick began a series of lectures commenting in
depth on each
chapter in the ACIM Text. In the initial lectures he explained the
relationship between
the early scribing found in the urtext and the first chapters of the
published Course.
See:
http://www.miraclestudies.net/urtext2.html