Judge to issue another order in LDS Church copyright case
Deseret News 10Nov99 N1
By Jim Rayburn: Deseret News staff writer

U.S. District Court Judge Tena Campbell said that while the evidence appears to support the LDS Church's claim that critics Jerald and Sandra Tanner are violating the copyright on the LDS Church's Church Handbook of Instructions, she will wait to issue a preliminary injunction until the Tanners have a chance to present evidence. The judge says that the website links to other sites that contain the Church's material are also a violation. "My look at this case now is that they are contributory infringing," said the Judge.

But while Judge Campbell believes there is 'contributory infringement,' she says that the LDS Church must still make its case and the Tanners must be given a chance to respond.

The Tanner's lawyer, Brian Barnard responds that the Tanners have complied with the issues in the original lawsuit, and that this is now a new claim, "We have taken the information they requested off the Web site and have not put it back on," said Barnard. He adds that if the Church wants to make a claim of contributory infringement, it should file a new lawsuit. He also says that any new lawsuit should include the Salt Lake Tribune, which also published the address for websites containing the material.

Barnard says that he will submit written arguments supporting the Tanner's position by next week.