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Copyright Lawsuit allegedly by Aga Khan: Defendants Move for Dismissal of the lawsuit - 2010-06-22

Date: 
Tuesday, 2010, June 22
Location: 
Source: 
Heritage News
AffirmationDocument-4.jpg
Author: 
Heritage Staff

Breaking their silence of more than a month following the wide circulation of the Notarized Affirmation purported to have been signed in Boston by H.H. the Aga Khan, Defendants have disclosed their findings that the Affirmation is fake and they have therefore swiftly filed a Motion for Summary Judgment to be heard on July 12th 2010 at the Federal Court of Canada. The Motion says: "The activities complained of are not infringing the rights of the Aga Khan, who it appears from the forged signatures, has not authorized this action."

The Statement of Claim for copyright infringement purported to be from the Aga Khan against two of his followers was filed at the Federal Court early April 2010. It was based according to one of the defendants on a precursor letter dated 24th of January 2010 sent by the Aga Khan to him asking the defendant Tajdin to recall all the "Farman" books published under the "Golden Edition" title on the birthday of the Imam in December 2009.

The plaintiff represented by the renowned firm Ogilvy Renault filed a reply to the defenses - after requesting an extension of 15 days to file the reply - based on the contents of a Notarized Affirmation signed in Boston on May 12th 2010. The Affirmation was widely circulated on the Internet by the plaintiff's lawyer Mr Brian Gray, althought was not filed in Court. The Affirmation stated that the Aga Khan had given instructions for the Lawsuit as well as for the announcements in all the Jamatkhanas [religious places of worship for the followers], it reaffirmed that the Imam himself had signed the letter THEN proven by TWO forensic examiners to have been forged.

The defendants have now lodged at the Federal Court evidence proving that the notarized document is a fake. They write in their Affidavit and Motion: "All four expert-reports by three different experts have confirmed that the signatures purporting to be that of the Aga Khan were forged signatures. To date, no real signature of the Aga Khan, the named Plaintiff, can be seen on any document related to this lawsuit."

The defendants have re-affirmed in their affidavit, in no uncertain terms, their willingness to abide immediately to all direct instructions, if received from the Imam, regardless of the legal aspect of the lawsuit. The Defendants state that to date there is no credible evidence that the Aga Khan has authorized this action.

The Defendants are confident they will be successful in proving in Court their Motion as well as the forgeries in the Affirmation and in letters purported to have been signed by the Aga Khan. They believe, with the discovery of the repeated forgeries, the whole claim of copyright infringement has collapsed like a house of cards. This has now paved the way for a strong defamation lawsuit and possible criminal case for forgery in any or all of the 4 countries involved.

Additional Details are available in the related article titled "Copyright Lawsuit: Expert says Notarized Affirmation is a FAKE!"

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