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
Dirtributing & Serving through knowing and knowledge
Fromuk, I understand your thought processa a d would add.
As far as sensitivity of content and authencity is concerned. The book was sent to the leadership and the Imam in Jan 2010.. The Leaders farman are in the process of being publised . The book was distributed only to Ismailis. According to the email and conversation between Tajdin & the Leadership. The defendants said that they would have stopped if they could speak to or meet the Imam to clarify with the Imam, because they beleive they have good reason to beleive that the Imam was not being given to correct and complete information
Regarding the publication. There are many non institution authoers and writers whoa re publusing books and material all the time which includes excerpts of farmans and guidance including rites and ceremonies. One of the important guidance from the imam is sharing & propagating time, knowlegde, and stress creating a literary culture. The Imam in the last decade has stressed the imporatnce of meritrocracy, pluralism, enabling envoirment and alleviating poverty through educaation and knowledge. Imam has reminded us that we are in a knowledge society. We are today moving into the creative economies and sociaties.
Regarding what you say about farmans not being readily accessible by the community for whatever reasons. The Imam in many of his farmans asks the comunity to share them and to read them and understand them. Therefore these should be available for all members who need to read or study them. How else can they follow and we all need to be reminded and to read a few times so we can internalise them.
Regading some lack of transparancy and sincereity between the Jamat/s and the respective leadership. I asssume you mean some leadership.. You are right that this issue could have been handled and settled diplomatically and with sincerity by the leadersip before the decisionwas was made to file the lawsuit and in fact before this was brough to the attention of the Imam formally.
In the Law Times of Canada Brian Gray, a senior partner at Ogilvy Renault LLP and counsel for the Aga Khan tells Law times …“We are thinking about how we can convince the defendants that it really is the Aga Khan that’s bringing this action,” …“We are looking for the most convenient or maybe the least inconvenient way for the Aga Khan to convince them that he authorizes this action, short of flying him over to Toronto simply because this has happened. That is something he does not wish to do.”… “They clearly believe in what they are doing and don’t think the Aga Khan is against them,” ..
Surely the quickest way to convince the defendants is a telephone call or a video conference or they are invited to fly at the Imam’s convenience. (based on what Brian Gray says, this did not happen) If this was attempted sincerely then significant cost, time and damage would have been avoided.
The Aga Khan, and therefore the community, is known and respected globally as generous, magnanimous, philanthropic and propagates transparency, ethics meritocracy and pluralism institutionally and commercially. ( for the community he is much more). As this case progresses many people internally and externally will wonder why the Imam, (before filing an unprecedented lawsuit ), refused to speak to his followers or to meet them as they had requested. .This can impact Credibility at multiple levels for us as a community
Brian Gray’s response to the media (Law times) should have been “no comments” All media to an official spokesperson, who will have been appointed by the leadership. Brian Gary’s responses & language is loose at best. More media attention I am sure was and should be progressively expected.
I and I am sure everyone sincerely hopes that this case is settled quickly and everyone should proactively do their best to so.
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