Penguin Books U.S.A., Inc. v. New Christian Church of Full Endeavor, Ltd. (262 F. Supp. 2d 251, 2003)

OPINION

SWEET, District Judge.

Defendants New Christian Church of Full Endeavor, Ltd. (the “Church”) and Endeavor Academy (the “Academy”) (collectively, the “Defendants”), have moved in limine to admit certain evidence at the trial of this action presently scheduled for May 19, 2003. The motion is granted with respect to the California materials as described below and denied as to the North Carolina materials, also described below, unless further authenticated.

Prior Proceedings

Penguin Books USA, Inc. (“Penguin”), Foundation for Inner Peace, Inc. (“FIP”) and Foundation for “A Course in Miracles, Inc.” (“FACIM”) filed their third amended complaint on September 21, 1999, seeking injunctive relief to prohibit the infringement of their copyright in “A Course in Miracles” (“ACIM”) by the Defendants.

Cross-motions for summary judgment were determined in an opinion and order of July 25, 2000 (the “July 25 Opinion”) which dismissed the Defendants’ affirmative defenses other than prior publication which remains as the subject of the scheduled trial.

The instant motion was heard on April 30, 2003.

The Materials At Issue

On the issue of prior publication, the Defendants seek to admit:

(1) A book, Journey Without Distance (“JWD”) authored by Robert Skutch (a founder, officer and director of FIP) (“Skutch”) and published by FIP and in particular, the statement in JWD to the effect that over a hundred people were permitted to make copies of “A Course in Miracles” (referring herein as “ACIM” or “The Course”) without a copyright notice in 1975;

(2) a videotape of Joe Janis (“Janis”) sent in 1991 by FIP with a covering letter signed by Skutch and Judith Skutch Whitson (“Skutch Whitson”), as vice-president and president of FIP, relating in part to his acquisition of ACIM;

(3) a videotape of Janis recorded in 1991 by David Kravetz (“Kravetz”), a resident of North Carolina, and the testimony of certain North Carolina residents as to a statement made to them by Janis;

(4) audio tape recordings of FIP officers that are over twenty years old, found in the archives of the Association for Research and Enlightenment (“ARE”), a non-profit organization founded in 1931 for dissemination of the psychic readings of Edgar Cayce and the study of other information regarding psychic phenomena.

The Facts

The facts are gleaned from the parties’ submissions on this and prior motions and do not constitute findings by the Court.

FIP was founded on October 21,1971 by Skutch and Skutch Whitson. Skutch and Skutch Whitson have been directors since its inception, and were married at the time of its inception. FACIM was organized in 1983 and is headed by Ken Wapnick (