Re: Theos-World HPB Correspondence
Feb 24, 2001 07:22 PM
by M K Ramadoss
We should thank Dr. Tillett in taking the time to keep us all uptodate on
the present situation on the matter. This would not have been possible but
for the Internet and the uncensored maillist (thanks to Eldon) outside the
control of theosophical organization(s).
After many many issues being discussed on this and other maillists relative
to many organizational and philosophical and personal matters, nothing
surprises one any more.
Copyright issue seems like a very great stretch by any one claiming
copyright to HPB letters. (What next? Claim copyright to the Book of Dzyan
and Ancient Wisdom itself?)
Copyright scholars would be greatly interested about the legal basis for
such a claim and appears to be an innovative theory which may give fodder
for many starving attorneys to put food on the table!!!
It looks like the matter may be heading for formal legal resolution, since
one party has chosen to communicate through attorneys and everyone should
be interested and should keep tuned.
The developing situation may interest attorneys on this list!
mkr
PS: Has John Cooper chosen to publish his research in a serialized manner
on the Internet, much of the present situation could have been avoided.
Also all of us would have free access to the material at no cost!!! May be
it is a lesson for any researcher currently in the process of developing
some valuable research which can benefit Humanity immediately, not long
after everyone is dead and gone!
At 08:34 AM 2/25/01 +1100, Dr Gregory Tillett wrote:
I refer to the statement published some time ago on Theos-World by Dallas
in which he stated that: ³I understand that Prof. John Cooper of Australia
was in the process of editing in 2 volumes HPBıs letters and the first
volume is ready for printing. The second volume is being edited for him as
his recent death interrupted this work.² I have no way of knowing whether
this statement is based on information from the Theosophical Publishing
House, Wheaton. However, as the agent of Johnıs family in this matter, I
feel obliged to offer the following statement. I apologize the the length
of the statement, but I consider that those interested in Theosophical
history ought to know what has been happening. The ³two volumes² would,
indeed, be some five or six volumes if all the correspondence collected
and compiled by John was published.
-----------------
STATEMENT REGARDING DR JOHN COOPERıS COMPILATION OF
THE COLLECTED CORRESPONDENCE OF MADAME BLAVATSKY
Since the death of my esteemed colleague and friend, John Cooper, many
people have contacted me and others regarding the future of the volume of
Madame Blavatskyıs correspondence which John had compiled and edited (and
for which he was posthumously awarded his Ph.D.).
The first volume of the HPB correspondence was originally compiled with
the intention that it would be published by the Theosophical Publishing
House, Wheaton, and John had entered into a contract with that publisher.
Following Johnıs untimely death on May 12, 1998, his widow, Shirley,
received a number of letters and telephone calls regarding the volume of
the HPB correspondence, and Johnıs library and archives. She found many of
these communications intimidating and intrusive, and, in a least one case,
received a letter which was rude and threatening. Johnıs family therefore
asked me to act as literary executor on behalf of his estate, and to
undertake all correspondence and discussions regarding the proposed
publication of the HPB correspondence, and Johnıs library and archives.
Acting on behalf of Johnıs family, on June 29, 1999 I wrote to Dr John
Algeo, of the Theosophical Society in America, in response to a number of
letters from him to Mrs Cooper. I advised Dr Algeo that I was acting on
behalf of the family, and that neither Mrs Cooper nor Johnıs children
wished to be involved in future discussions regarding the proposed
publication other than through me as their agent. I both faxed and mailed
this letter to Dr Algeo, and, when I had not received a reply by August
24, 1999, I again wrote to him, again faxing and mailing the letter.
Dr Algeo replied on August 24 (by fax), but appeared to believe that, with
Johnıs death, all rights in the material he had collected for the proposed
volume had passed to the Theosophical Publishing House, Wheaton, and that
Johnıs family (as the beneficiaries of Johnıs estate) had no rights inthe
matter. On the same day, Dr Algeo wrote to Mrs Cooper advising that he
proposed to visit her in October, 1999. Dr Algeo also wrote to me again on
August 30 advising that he intended to visit Mrs Cooper ³to get whatever
material I can pertaining to the HPB letters.²
Having consulted with Johnıs family, I replied to Dr Algeo (sending my
letter by e-mail, fax and post) on September 3, 1999. I advised Dr Algeo
that Johnıs family did not wish to be involved in any correspondence
regarding the proposed volume, or in relation to Johnıs vast collection of
material on Theosophical history, and that they had asked me to deal with
all such matters. The family had considered having their attorney write to
Dr Algeo to make a formal request that he desist from troubling Mrs Cooper
with further communications, but I advised them that this would surely not
be necessary.
I advised Dr Algeo that Mrs Cooper did not wish him to visit her, and that
the family would not release any material to him. I again advised Dr Algeo
that I was acting as the agent of the family, and that any further and
future communications in the matter of the proposed volume and Johnıs
library and archives would therefore have to be with me. I advised Dr
Algeo that, since he was proposing to visit Australia, I would be happy to
make myself available to meet with him in the hope that any difficulties
in the publication of the HPB correspondence could be resolved.
On behalf of Johnıs family, I had taken legal advice from an American
attorney, and I advised Dr Algeo that his advice (no less than the advice
I had also received regarding the Australian legal position) was that
Johnıs rights in the proposed volume (and as referred to in Johnıs
contract with the Theosophical Publishing House, Wheaton) had now passed
to his beneficiaries (his ³legal successors² in the words of the
contract), and that decisions made by the Theosophical Publishing House,
Wheaton, with regard to changes it apparently intended to make (including
apparent proposals for deleting or amending correspondence) from the first
volume, could not occur without the consent of Johnıs family. I set out
the familyıs position regarding matters to do with the copyright of the
manuscript of the proposed volume in some detail, and asked that any
proposals for changes to the manuscript be forwarded to me as soon as possible.
I also indicated that the family would provide whatever assistance it
could give to facilitate the publication of the first volume (which
already exists in manuscript form), and of subsequent volumes (for which
John had already collected a vast amount of material). I indicated that
the family hoped that the correspondence could be published in the
Collected Writings series. However, I advised Dr Algeo that any such
cooperation would require consultation with the family, and not arbitrary
decisions by the Theosophical Publishing House of which the family was
simply informed.
I also noted that Mrs Cooper had received what can only be described as an
offensive and aggressive letter from an eminent American Theosophist, who
is a member of an ³Editorial Board² apparently appointed by the
Theosophical Publishing House, Wheaton, to take control of the publication
of Johnıs manuscript of HPB correspondence (ignoring the provisions of the
contract between John and the Theosophical Publishing House, Wheaton).
I have still not received a reply to my letter (and fax and e-mail) of
September 3, 1999.
Dr Algeo was in Australia recently, and I wrote to him at the Australian
headquarters of the Theosophical Society, and faxed a copy of that letter
to the National President of the Society in Australia asking that she pass
it on to Dr Algeo. I sought a meeting with Dr Algeo in an attempt to
resolve the outstanding issues raised in my letter of September 3, 1999. I
have received a letter from the National President (Ms Beverley Champion)
dated January 22, 2001, acknowledging receipt of the letters for Dr Algeo,
and stating that she gave the faxed copy of the letter to him. I have
received no communication from Dr Algeo.
Having read on Theos-World the suggestion that the first volume of the HPB
correspondence was to be published by the Theosophical Publishing House, I
wrote to the Theosophical Publishing House informing them that Johnıs
family did not give, and specifically refused, permission for such
publication until and unless the issues relating to its rights in the
matter were resolved.
I subsequently received a letter from attorneys acting for the
Theosophical Publishing House, Wheaton, and the Theosophical Society in
America. This letter made a number of remarkable assertions. For example,
it asserted that the Theosophical Publishing House and the Theosophical
Society in America ³currently hold the copyright on the H.P. Blavatsky
Letters², and that ³Any obligations or duties of my client under the
contract with Mr. Cooper would have terminated upon his death.² Just how
copyright can be held on letters written or received over a hundred years
ago remains unexplained, as does the question of how any rights in
relation to letters found or obtained by John independently of the
Theosophical Publishing House can now be claimed by them.
The letter further asserts that John acknowledged that all rights in
relation to all letters were held by the Theosophical Publishing House.
Although I have searched extensively, I have been unable to find in Johnıs
files any such sweeping acknowledgement.
The letter notes that ³It is not the intention of [the Theosophical
Publishing House] to utilize any editorial notes or introductory essays of
Mr Cooper with respect to any published work of the H.P. Blavatsky
Letters.² This, presumably, means that any volume of HPB correspondence
published by the Theosophical Publishing House, Wheaton will not include
any material written by John, any editorial comments compiled by John, or
any letters obtained as a result of Johnıs independent research.
The letter concludes with a predictable legal threat of court action
should any attempt be made to publish (other than with the Theosophical
Publishing House) any material relating to the HPB correspondence.
I have referred the attorneyıs letter to a US attorney (since copyright
and contract law may well be different in the USA to Australia).
Johnıs family is eager for the HPB correspondence to be published, but it
will not allow the Theosophical Publishing House, Wheaton, or Dr Algeo, or
anyone else, to simply take over the rights in the publication which the
contract between John and the Theosophical Publishing House, Wheaton,
specifically declares to lie with John or ³his successors². John spent
many years and much effort and money in his collection of and research
into the HPB correspondence, as is evidenced by the vast collection of
material in his archives. His doctoral thesis (which was, essentially,
intended to be the basis for the first volume of the HPB correspondence)
provides evidence of the extent of material he gathered independently of
the Theosophical Society in America or the Theosophical Publishing House,
and of his diligence in ensuring scholarly accuracy and impartiality in
presenting the correspondence.
It is entirely probable that Dr Algeo has no wish to deal with me.
However, I am the agent of the estate of John Cooper in this matter, and
it will therefore not be possible for the publication of the proposed
volume to proceed unless the Theosophical Publishing House, Wheaton, is
prepared to communicate with me, to recognize the rights of Johnıs family
in relation to the proposed volume, and to respond to their requests.
John had wanted a clause included in the contract that specifically
assigned the right to determined ³what is published in the letters² tohim
(or his successors)[clause 1(g)]. John deliberately had this clause
included in the contract. He was (as he told me on several occasions,
including on the night before his death, and as he told others) concerned
that attempts might be made to inappropriately edit, ³censor² or amendthe
text of the HPB correspondence. As I have written to Dr Algeo, Johnıs
family is quite willing to consider editorial changes, but it is not
prepared to allow them until and unless any proposed changes are explained
and justified to them, and approved by them.
Thus, unfortunately, the proposal to publish the first volume of the HPB
correspondence remains stalled. Interest has been expressed by several
others publishers in the possibility of taking on the project, and this
option is currently being explored.
I must say that I have been totally appalled by the arrogant attitude of
the Theosophical Publishing House, Wheaton, in this whole matter. The
distress that has been caused to Mrs Cooper is scandalous, and, coming
from an organization that lays claim to principles of ³Universal
Brotherhood² even more so.
The first volume (at least) of the Blavatsky correspondence will -
eventually - be published, in its entirety and without ideologically based
censorship, whether by the Theosophical Publishing House, Wheaton, or by
one of the other publishers who have already expressed interest in taking
over the project. John was a close friend and collaborator of mine for
more than twenty years, and I will do all within my power to ensure that
his scholarly standards and professional integrity are not diminished
after his death.
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