Federal judge orders couple to remove Web links to Mormon text

The Associated Press

11.11.99

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SALT LAKE CITY — A federal judge has extended a restraining order barring a local couple from posting parts of a Mormon church handbook on the Internet.

U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell also ordered church critics Jerald and Sandra Tanner to remove links to the copyrighted Mormon text from their Web site.

The Tanners, founders of the Utah Lighthouse Ministry, had posted a chapter of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' "Church Handbook of Instructions" on their Web site.

International Reserve Inc., the corporation that holds copyrights used by the church, sued the Tanners claiming they were violating copyright laws and was granted a temporary restraining order on Oct. 18 banning the Tanners from using the book.

The original restraining order then lapsed, but the Tanners agreed to abide by it and remove the offending material until yesterday's hearing.

IRI claimed the Tanners violated the order in the meantime by posting Web addresses of other sites containing the copyrighted church handbook.

Yesterday, IRI attorney Todd Zenger asked Campbell to extend the temporary restraining order to include the Web addresses, saying the Tanners were "contributing to infringement."

"Based on the record now before the court, it appears that there is a substantial likelihood that the plaintiff will eventually prevail on its claim of contributory infringement," Campbell said.

The updated order banned links to court documents and newspaper articles with the Web address of an Australian site that displays the entire handbook. It also mandated that Lighthouse erase the handbook's table of contents, which appears in court documents on the site.

Brian Barnard, the Tanners' attorney, said that simply stating the handbook is available on the Web does not constitute copyright infringement.

Sandra Tanner argued that she and her husband are just reporting their lawsuit — a protected First Amendment right — by posting related court documents and linking to newspaper reports.

"It's our position that simply having references on your Internet site to someone else's Internet (site) does not constitute infringement," said Barnard.

Berne Broadbent, a copyright attorney for IRI, said the Tanners were "not just saying that in Australia there is a copy. They're guiding people to that site."

Broadbent said the church was not "going after the Tanners" because of their criticism of Mormon policy. He said officials have also asked several church members to remove the handbook contents from their Web sites.

Broadbent has previously said the church is considering whether to take legal action against Prestige Communications, the Australian Web site that has posted all 160 pages of the book.

At the hearing, Barnard suggested the church might want to add The Salt Lake Tribune as a defendant because it published the address of the Australian Web site.

"We have no intention of going after The Salt Lake Tribune," said Broadbent.

Campbell gave attorneys for both sides a week to prepare briefs on the case. A hearing is scheduled for Nov. 18.