Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.Copyright Lawsuit: Defenses Glorifying the Aga Khan filed in federal Court - 2010-04-29
In a surprisingly rapid twist of events, both Mr Tajdin and Mr Jiwa have filed their respective statements of Defense this 29th of April 2010. They affirm to being devoted followers who will unconditionally abide by the wishes of the Aga Khan, whom they glorify in their defense.
Mr Tajdin declares that:
He has not been served yet but the ethics imposed upon him by his faith demands that he should not keep in ignorance the public by being silent on the issue and should clarify all of the facts, pertaining to this lawsuit, of which he is aware.
He reaffirms his allegiance to the Aga Khan, is willing to submit to any of his wishes, and is ready to surrender himself and all his possessions to the Imam.
He has been printing Farman books since 1992 with approval and instructions from the Imam received on August 15, 1992 in Montreal.
He has not received any communication from the Imam from 1992 to 2009 instructing him to stop publication.
He cannot stop publication without instruction from the Imam as this would be a breach of his oath of allegiance to the Imam.
All Farman publications were financial deficit projects done as a volunteer service and large numbers of books were distributed free of charge.
Farman sharing is a historic Ismaili tradition which still continues today.
The current Ismaili Constitution does not restrict the right to publish Farmans
Mr Tajdin concludes that:
He has no choice but to await further direct instructions from the Imam.
He reaffirms his allegiance to the Aga Khan, is willing to submit to any of His wishes, and is ready to surrender himself and all his possessions to the Imam.
Mr Jiwa states that:
"This action does not appear to have been authorized personally by the Aga Khan .."
"In distributing Farman books obtained from Tajdin to other Ismailis, he has not violated either the Ismaili Constitution or any Farmans"
He has not violated the copyright act as "Tajdin was given express authority by the Imam" and regardless of the fact that "the limitations period provided for by the Copyright Act also bars this action as the books containing the Farmans were commenced publication in the year 1992", he will still do whatever the Imam tells him to do.
Mr Jiwa clarifies finances:
He "obtains these books for C$50.00 and sells them for C$50.00 or gives them free, without any profit.
"All monies received by him from the sale of (other) books after 2005 were delivered to the Jamatkhanas"
Mr Jiwa further states that:
"If the Imam edited the Farman before releasing to the Jamats, in effect he is superceding the Farman he made orally previously."
He "unconditionally reconfirms his oath of allegiance to his Imam" and "if the Imam does not desire his Farman books to be distributed to the Jamats (...) this defendant will submit to the instructions of His Imam without reservation whatsoever"
Replies From the Plaintiff are due within 10 days, and Affidavits of Documents are due 30 days later.
[Update from May 6: Ogilvy Renault, the law firm which launched the case has asked for an extension of 15 days to reply to the Defense. They claim delays due to breakdown of email servers, blackberry communication, travel of senior lawyer, time difference with Paris etc...The more delays in this file, the more damage it creates to the reputation of the Ismaili community, the Imam and the defendants. It is to the advantage of all parties that this case be withdrawn from the courts.]
[Update from June 22: Defendants have filed a Motion for summary Judgement to have the case dismissed.]
[Update from September 5:
Online Book that gathers court materials as well as articles that are currently available for the ongoing 2010 Lawsuit:
Copyright Lawsuit 2010: Online Book of All available Materials
News on cross-examinations:
Copyright Lawsuit: CROSS_EXAMINATIONS Table of Contents - 2010-09-04
Latest Development
Copyright Lawsuit: Imam Appears for Discovery and Ends the Case - 2010-10-15
As users are asking to read the letters from Nagib and Alnaz on the court docket, the latest have been attached on the following link:
A. Various Court Filings
Revised Factums have been posted Here:
2010-11-29 Summary Judgment : Plaintiffs Revised Combined Factums of Reply and of Motion
2010-11-29 Summary Judgment: Defendants' Revised Factums of Motion and of Reply
There has been proven fraud in the recent past in the Aga Khan's domain by the Aga Khan's agents:
Aga Khan Lawsuit: Fraud at Aga Khan Studs - 2000-02-22
2011-05-25: A Jamati Member who has never met the Defendants volunteered as his brotherly duty to pay the $30,000 that was demanded in the Plaintiff''s submissions and that was accordingly ordered by the judge.
Read the full details of the $30,000 payment directly to H.H. The Aga Khan.
2011-06-16: The Appeal Memorandum of Fact and Law against the Summary Judgment has been filed in court by the defendants on June 16th, 2011.
Read the Full Appeal Memorandum of Fact and Law
Link to Court Docket Case T-514-10
Link to Court Docket Appeal A-60-11
Link to Court Docket Appeal A-59-11
Link to Court Docket Appeal A-156-13
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Tajdin Defence Apr 29.10.pdf | 491.02 KB |
| Jiwa AK Defence Apr 29.10.pdf | 543.82 KB |
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Comments
Aga Khan Lawsuit - 2 Motions by Brian Gray on 7 October 2014
YAM,
On 15 October 2010 (4 years ago!) I told a journalist from Ottawa that called me immediately after my meeting with Hazar Imam about the lawsuit that "it is good it is finished, it will bring peace to the community". They printed that short statement that I gave.
But that was based on my mistaken belief that the instructions that The Imam gave in my presence to Gray and Sachedina to put the matter to rest, will be followed as per the wish of the Imam. I did not expect these people to go against the wish of H.H. The Aga Khan and continue the lawsuit which they filed by their own in his name.
Though the Imam said he remembered the Mehmani and his instructions to us to continue with the publications of Farman Books as he needed those for translations to be done in Farsi, French etc.. the Courts were misled into believing that this 10th book of Farman that I published was an "infringement". Though The Imam said he knew that Alnaz Jiwa was in no way involved in this publication, he is being harassed up to now.
4 years later the matter is still not "put to rest" as per The Aga Khan's instruction to Brian Gray in my presence. In fact this time they were 3 lawyer$ (highly paid, I guess) from Gray's office in the Court room. I would not be surprised if the next time they are four of them.
There were basically 2 motions presented by Gray this Tuesday morning in Toronto at the Federal Court. The presentation by both parties lasted several hours.
Basically Gray wants to get by these 2 motions the name of those who bought the book, the shipping addresses, the bank statements, permission to again discover the defendants, get another affidavit of documents etc...
There were 3 lawyers from Grays' office, one of ours. Gray had asked for translators so the Court flew in from Montreal 2 translators beside its own staff. Just think of the cost of this day's hearing. The judgement will come in few days.
Here is what the Docket says for today:
Toronto 07-OCT-2014 BEFORE Mireille Tabib, Prothonotary Language: B
Before the Court: Motion Doc. No. 192 on behalf of Plaintiff Result of
Hearing: Matter reserved Before the Court: Motion Doc. No. 197 on
behalf of Plaintiff Result of Hearing: Matter reserved held in Court
Senior Usher: Anne Brzuchalski Duration per day: 07-OCT-2014 from
09:40 to 14:24 Courtroom : Courtroom No. 4-C - Toronto Court
Registrar: Heather Michaud Total Duration: 4h 26min Appearances: Brian
W. Gray 416-216-1905 representing Plaintiff Andres C. Garin
1-514-847-4957 representing Plaintiff Jean-Philippe Gervais
1-514-228-4241 representing Defendant Comments: DARS was used at this
hearing, laptop Z005146 Minutes of Hearing entered in Vol. 914 page(s)
156 - 161 Abstract of Hearing placed on file