A web-site owner’s alleged copyright infringement of Christian reference materials could hurt sales for retailers and more than 20 Christian publishers. The Evangelical Christian Publishers Assoc. is taking action to stop Biblecentre.net from offering copyrighted materials free of charge.
During a routine Internet scan in early August, Zondervan discovered the site, which carries 200-plus copyrighted works by more than 20 publishers including Zondervan, Thomas Nelson, InterVarsity Press, Kregel Publications, and Tyndale.
“We tried to dialogue with the webmaster for a couple of weeks, but the site owner said he wouldn’t respect our copyrights,” said Zondervan Executive VP-CFO Jim Schreiber.
“We then contacted Internet service providers to have them remove the site. They’ve been very cooperative, but the site owner basically just moves it from one ISP to another.”
Although the site owner has been “pretty good at hiding his identity,” Schreiber is confident he eventually will be tracked down.
Schreiber said copyright infringement is an issue that concerns the entire industry. “You don’t have to go too far to see ultimately everyone suffers—authors, companies, consumers, and retailers. Keep in mind that a lot of folks’ livelihood depends on their ability to market these resources. Free posting has negative consequences for everyone. I feel this effort is imperative for the industry.”
To enlist industry support, Zondervan contacted ECPA.
“We’re contacting folks in the U.K. where the individual resides, and we’re in touch with an Internet expert,” said ECPA President Doug Ross. “Our objective is to get the web-site owner to comply with copyright laws or shut his site down.”
Ross is confident the issue can be resolved quickly. However, he added, unless the owner changes his position on copyright law, the battle may resurface elsewhere. The problem, he said, is that the owner claims he’s the one who’s been wronged.
“In his perspective, we’re the enemy because we’re restricting the Gospel through copyright laws,” Ross said. “He’s stated that, if necessary, he’ll move the site to a country where there are no copyright laws. Either [his position] is a smoke screen [for criminal activity] or he’s totally misled about copyright laws.
“The Bible says to render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God,” Ross added. “There’s no Christian testimony in stealing someone else’s work and reselling or distributing it to others.”
Ross doubts much financial damage has been done. However, he believes the damage to Christian witness could be considerable.
“Many non-Christians are looking at our industry and expecting moral leadership from us. They expect us to do things in a right and honorable way,” Ross said. “This is a deplorable example.”
CBA President-CEO Bill Anderson agreed. “While I applaud the widest possible distribution of God’s truth, He doesn’t need people to steal someone’s intellectual property in the name of spreading the very Gospel that declares Jesus paid full price for our salvation.
“I support the efforts to address this critical issue that has the potential to impact not only publishers but Christian retailers significantly,” Anderson added. “This serves as a reminder to everyone in our industry how infringement on the intellectual property rights of other companies can be ‘justified’ and how incongruous that kind of theft is with our identification with Christ.
“It raises afresh the importance of industry relationships that honor Christ and are characterized by trust, respect, and integrity.”