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
deedar in Singapore ( As received)
Hello all ... On my way back from singapore now after a pretty special chance to be with Hazar Imam.
There were two ceremonies today .
The hall itself was abt half the size of south London jk with a small white stage and a white and gold chair for mowla bapa to sit on. You can see now why I said it was a special chance. This hall was even smaller than the one we had at golden jubilee which itself was small. The ceremonies today were attended by jamat from HK Singapore vietnam and Japan.
Think there were also a few Australians. Malaysia and Philippines had theirs yesterday. I sat in the third row directly in front of his chair, it was pretty much like having him over to your house for a cup of tea, that's how close it was. Didn't really matter where u sat the proximity to mowla bapa was closer than most people will ever have the chance to experience, So in some respects feeling a little guilty there are many much more deserving people that should have been in my place.
He arrived smiling with a small entourage wearing his trademark blue suit. His short walk from the entrance to the chair his smile was beaming and his presence was felt by all, you could feel the emotions of the Jamat in the room were overflowing.
The format was, Quran reading and translation, Ginan and then a zikar tasbih which I have never seen performed in front of him before, it is a new thing that started in east Africa during his last visit.
After all this the mehmanis from the different countries were offered to him by the mukhisahebs.
After all this he addressed the Jamat and explained it is no longer practical to accept mehmanis from each family as in the past and so he has decided to hold smaller gatherings like this and it should be as if he has placed his hand and blessed each person and their families individually.
After this he went on to highlight a few of his thoughts in a firman which he said should be shared with our families below are the key points:
* FAITH - Be sure to Go to Jk regularly
* MOBILITY - Education is important and english as a global language is extremely important.
Make sure you educate yourselves in areas that will benefit you and the community. (I guess he is referring to the fact that the world is a small place these days and to be able to freely move and work globally you need these tools)
*FAR EAST - Happy that Jamat doing well in far east and there is good opportunity here.
*ETHICS - Jamat everywhere in the world should live within the ethics of their faith. They should conduct themselves in a proper manor. Any disagreeable behaviour of any Jamat reflects poorly on the global Jamat.
Before departing he gave his special blessing to all and their families. Accepted nazrana and wished that it comes back to us a hundred times over.
After this those that were taking bol went to the room next door. Again pretty small abt two thirds of the size of the first one. We were joined by the rest of the Jamats
He made sure everyone was in there of his own accord and he cracked a couple of small jokes about why we do this kind of prayer in the morning to avoid thinking abt soccer games and how much money we made or how we are gonna win that case.
Overall HI spent about an hour in total with the Jamat today.
It was interesting to meet some of the Japanese Ismailis there are so many Japanese wives that have converted after marriage interesting to see them in saris and reciting ginans and salwats.
The husbands joke and mix hindi and Japanese together while talking. There were a few Tajik students there that had been studying or working in Malaysia . There were no attendees that didn't currently live or work in the far east.
Please do share with you families ... Mubaraki