Worldwide Church of God v. Philadelphia Church of God, Inc.

Appellant Worldwide Church of God (“WCG”) is a nonprofit religious organization whose late Pastor General, Herbert W. Armstrong, wrote a 380-page book entitled Mystery of the Ages {“MOA ”), the copyright to which is held by WCG. After Armstrong’s death, WCG retired MOA from distribution and use. Appellee Philadelphia Church of God (“PCG”), also a nonprofit religious organization, then appropriated MOA for use in its religious observance, copying it in its entirety and distributing large numbers of copies to its members and the public. We must decide whether PCG’s copying and dissemination of MOA constitutes fair use under the Copyright Statute. 17 U.S.C. § 107 .

*1113 FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Herbert Armstrong founded the Radio Church of God, later renamed Worldwide Church of God, in 1934. . He held the title of “Pastor General with the spiritual rank of Apostle” and was its undisputed spiritual and temporal leader until his death in 1986. Armstrong was a prolific writer, producing over three thousand articles for the church’s magazine The Plain Truth, all of which were copyrighted in the name of WCG, or its affiliate teaching arm, Ambassador College.

Armstrong wrote MOA, his final…

dissenting:

I respectfully dissent and disagree with the majority’s reversal of the district court’s ruling on fair use.

The copyright dispute in this case arises from a change in religious doctrine of the Worldwide Church of God (“WCG”). This doctrinal shift produced a splinter church, the Philadelphia Church of God (“PCG”). PCG, which was founded by “defrocked” WCG ministers in 1989, seeks to adhere to WCG’s original religious doctrine as espoused by its former leader Herbert W. Armstrong. In particular, PCG views Mystery of the Ages (“MOA”), a book written by Armstrong, as a divinely inspired text necessary for proper interpretation of the Bible. It is required reading for every member baptized into the PCG church and any prospective member prior to their attendance at church services.

WCG, on the other hand, has renounced many of Armstrong’s teachings since shortly after his death in 1986. Although it had previously distributed approximately 1.25 million copies of MOA in book form and 8 million copies in serial form, WCG ceased publication and distribution of MOA in 1988. WCG then destroyed all excess copies of MOA in its inventory, retaining only archival and research…