Date: Fri, 28 Jul 1995 19:44:15 -0700 (PDT)
From: Helena Kobrin <hkk@netcom.com>
To: gerdw@cougar.vut.EDU.AU
Subject: unauthorized posting of copyright material


Dear Mr. Gerard:

     I represent Religious Technology Center ("RTC"), the owner
of the confidential Advanced Technology of the religion of
Scientology, and the holder of the exclusive rights under the
copyrights applicable to the Advanced Technology materials. 
Among these copyrighted and confidential materials are the
Advanced Technology materials of a level known as "OT VII." The
copyright for OT VII is registered with the United States
Copyright Office under No. TXU-303-388.  

     I have been informed that you have posted on
alt.religion.scientology a portion of the OT VII materials
without the authorization of my client, who, of course, would not
have given such authorization had it been requested. Your action
violates my client's legal rights in that it is the unauthorized
making of an electronic copy of the copyrighted material and the
unauthorized disclosure of trade secrets materials.  

     These actions constitute violations of applicable copyright
laws and trade  secret misappropriation entitling our client to
damages and an injunction.  This is true regardless of whether
you ever signed an agreement with respect to the confidentiality
of the OT materials.  You are on notice that they are regarded as
trade secrets, and case law from several jurisdictions holds that
an individual who is on notice is liable for trade secret
misappropriation. The only way these materials could ever have
left the church is through outright theft or misappropriation.  

     It is essential that you take immediate and effective action
to remove the unauthorized copy from the Internet, and that you
refrain from any repetition of this or similar acts in the
future.  You are also to delete these and any other OT materials
from your hard drive and any floppy disks and to destroy any hard
copies you have made.  

     In addition, your downloading of the copyright and trade
secret materials also violates laws prohibiting copyright
infringement and trade secret misappropriation.  Your use and
disclosure of these materials is *not* fair use.  United States
courts routinely find that the unpublished nature of a work is a
factor which weighs against a finding of fair use. No court has
ever found that use of stolen unpublished works is fair.  There
is also no fair use defense to trade secret misappropriation. 
The OT materials have been found to be trade secrets by the
United States District Court for the Southern District of
California in Bridge Publications, Inc. v. Vien, 827 F. Supp. 
629, 633 (S.D. Cal. 1993). No court has ever ruled to the
contrary.  

     I will expect an immediate response from you with a
statement of your willingness to comply with these demands. If
you do not comply immediately, we will have no other recourse but
to initiate legal action to compel compliance.  
                                        Sincerely, 
                                        Helena K. Kobrin