Copyright of Food at the Proper Time?

by The Song Remains The Same 12 Replies latest watchtower scandals

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  Chaserious

  Chaserious, Jehovah's words have been twisted but they are there in the bible for all to read and judge for themselves. The point is he never copyrighted them

  Well, it's not like Jehovah could copyright what he wrote. Maybe he would if he could. But it seems that legal systems discriminate against omniscient, omnipotent beings. Since copyright periods are tied to the death of the author, maybe they are worried letting Jehovah get a copyright would be abuse of the system since he never dies. Or it could be they just figure he could strike with lightning whomever he would otherwise sue.

  Either way, as has been discussed in other threads here, you don't have to "copyright" anything to have a copyright (although in the past you had to). The fact that something is an original work automatically makes it copyrighted.

  The bible is available to all, the Mosaic Law, the words of Jesus, the letters of Paul and the other apostles. All in the open. Why do the elder's book and letters to the BOE have to be kept secret?

  They don't claim that letters to the BOE and the elders' book are on the same level with the Bible. Whether they view them with the same amount of authoritativeness is open to debate, but any JW would tell you that they have never claimed that the letters to the BOE are "inspired by God and beneficial for teaching...," etc. Everyone needs the Bible to know how they should serve God; the same cannot be said about the BOE letters.
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  prologos

  In one of the fables of the F&DS, Luke 12, the slave who is "misjudging the time" gets beaten with many strokes. Question:

  Does the judge have the right to use the copy-righted material that turned out to be PATENTLY false, erroneous, damaging, kept secret-- in arriving at his judgement? is he likely to?

  since all the hidden things will become manifest, will secrecy, copyrights ultimately protect from the consequences?

  is there more fear of men than of God?

  is there no fear of God because there is no belief in God?

  is to copy not a right? is it not right to copy?
• 

  alecholmesthedetective

  Yes Chaserious, Jehovah has never sued anyone for using his work without asking for permission first.

  "And the spirit and the bride keep on saying: “Come!” And let anyone hearing say: “Come!” And let anyone thirsting come; let anyone that wishes take life’s water free." —Revelation 22:17

  The JW.org states:

  "The goal of Russell and the other Bible Students, as the group was then known, was to promote the teachings of Jesus Christ and to follow the practices of the first-century Christian congregation."

  The WT claims Jehovah's Witnesses are true Christians, who follow the example of first-century Christians. They didn't have secret books. One can't have it both ways. If the apostles who were inspired did not hide anything, why does an uninspired organization hide things from its followers?

  Here is clear example of the WT misguided use of copyright as highlighted by Cedars. I'm copying it below.

  Very recently, in its April 2nd letter to all congregations, the Society announced that it would be revising its approach to the internet - namely by amalgamating its three websites into just one (jw.org), which would be revamped with a focus on presenting JW beliefs in a more appealing light. By encouraging interested ones (who have no prior indoctrination to ignore "apostate" material) to turn to the internet for their information, they run the risk that such ones will roam further than the Society's official pages, and gather information instead from any one of the hundreds of web pages that present JW beliefs and practices in a less than flattering light - including neutral sites such as Wikipedia. It's like sending your kids into a toyshop and telling them not to touch anything - it ain't gonna happen!

  A recent post on the JWN forum gives us a reminder of how hopelessly inept the Society is when it comes to censoring online material. In 2009 they issued a legal complaint to a JW-related website via one of their solicitors, claiming infringement of copyright.

  You're probably thinking "Well who can blame them for fighting back at the 'rabid apostates'? They write their own original material, they're entitled to stop it from being used negatively against them!" Well, here's the thing. The website wasn't apostate - it was a site run by Jehovah's Witnesses who wished to discuss the day's text together via an online blog. Not exactly defamatory or explosive material!

  You can view the website and read the notice that was sent to the owners by the Society's lawyers on the following URL: http://examiningthescripturesdaily.blogspot.co.uk

  The website features a link that allows you to view an archived page from the website, showing how harmless it was before they were shut down by the Society's lawyers.

  The website's writers make an excellent point that one of their so-called 'copyright infringements' was that they quoted from the New World Translation, which is one of the publications on the Society's Watchtower Library CD-ROM that is subject to copyright laws.

  The author notes the irony that the Society has essentially slapped a copyright label on the bible itself, despite the fact that they claim it was written by God. The author rightly asks "Do you think Jehovah or Jesus would protect the Bible using copyright laws?" and quotes Revelation 22:17 which says (at risk of copyright infringement, sorry Randy!) "Let anyone thirsting come; let anyone that wishes take life’s water free."

  By turning on their own followers, and threatening legal action against a benevolent JW-friendly website, the Society made a terrible PR blunder - and demonstrated the disastrous consequences of allowing a religious organization to be run by lawyers. They also showed how hopelessly behind they are in their battle with the internet. They cannot hope to engage the internet on its own turf if they are unable to even differentiate friend from foe.

  And so, reminded of the Society's hopeless ineptitude, as we await the launch of the sparkling new JW.org as a symbol of its new attempts to befriend the internet, we can put our feet up, get the popcorn out, and watch the disaster unfold.