Sour Grapes Sampradaya

July 5, 2003

While Hansadutta's recent legal pronouncement (Just What Is Jayadvaita's Point?) that the books of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada are now in the "public domain" makes for a titillating Enquirer-quality read, I for one won't be holding my breath waiting to see how fast he runs to the nearest Kinko's to print Srila Prabhupada's books using his real name and address on the inside front cover.

Why? Well, to start with, unless Hansadutta was recently appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court (the only court in which a legally definitive public domain determination can be made), he was just writing another limelight piece on behalf of the Sour Grapes Sampradaya.

For those who may not have been following this saga, that's the small but exclusive group led by Hansadutta who formally signed on to a Stipulated Judgment in the 1998 BBTI case which acknowledged Srila Prabhupada's legal arrangement for his trust to hold his copyrights (BBT Legal Case Ends).

After an unsuccessful attempt (Dismissal Of Gupta, Joseph Fedorowsky) to then install himself as lifetime controller of Krishna Books Inc (KBI), publisher of the authorized and approved pre-1978 books of His Divine Grace (Krishna Books Inc Announces Formation), Hansadutta refused to lift a finger to print a book because he was not "in charge." This led to subsequent court rulings that KBI was the official Licensee and managed by a Board of Directors (Court Affirms Krishna Books Inc As Licensee) but was not owned by the "Rittvic Representative Of The Acarya" (Hansadutta Blurs Distinctions).

The other reason I won't be holding my breath waiting for Hansadutta to voluntarily make himself a target by printing Srila Prabhupada's books without legal authority is the price tag to mount a public domain defense.

This factor lies at the core of his misleading political commentary over enforcement of the copyrights. There is nothing Hansadutta would like more than to inspire someone else to violate the copyrights ("everyone who likes can print") so that he is then in a position to safely hide while a legal challenge ensues at someone else's expense.

Having represented the BBT on selected copyright enforcement issues I can report with a high degree of confidence that protecting and enforcing the copyrights to Srila Prabhupada's literary legacy remains a top priority in terms of institutional determination, resource allocation and the willingness to pursue civil and criminal remedies for infringement.

Consequently, a challenge to the copyrights based on a public domain argument in federal court is not only legally unrealistic but such a misguided attack would be directly antithetical to Srila Prabhupada's instructions and plan for his books as well.

So until a wake-up button is installed in that sleepy little "eye of the hurricane" where Hansadutta apparently hangs out when penning his legal advice column, best to take it from the litigator who actually prevailed in the case (Court Guts BBTI Case) which revalidated the original BBT and secured a license to print Srila Prabhupada's authorized and approved pre-1978 books: the copyrights are right back where Srila Prabhupada originally put them, they are not going anywhere, and if need be they will be enforced by the copyright holder in spite of the fatuous legal opinion of the founder of the Sour Grapes Sampradaya.

P.S. Now... if Jayadvaita Swami would just acknowledge the transcendental sanctity of Srila Prabhupada's adi-vani and strictly follow his Gurudeva's instructions by only printing the authorized and approved pre-1978 editions we would see the complex events of the past 26 years finally come around full circle to a renewed start.

With regards,

Gupta dasa

Joseph Fedorowsky

lawyer@oxfordlaw.com

gupta@krishnabooks.org