RT Book
T1 Copyrighting God: ownership of the sacred in American religion
A1 Ventimiglia, Andrew
LA English
PP New York, NY
PB Cambridge University Press
YR 2018
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1045673021
AB Copyrighting God provides the first detailed account of how American religious organizations used copyright in sacred texts not simply for economic gain but also for social organization and control. Including chapters on the angelic authorship of The Urantia Book, Mary Baker Eddy's use of copyright to construct the Christian Science Church, interdenominational disputes in the Worldwide Church of God, and the Church of Scientology's landmark lawsuits against Internet service providers, this book examines how religious copyright owners mobilized the law in order to organize communities, protect sacred goods, produce new forms of spiritual identity, and even enchant the material world. In doing so, this book demonstrates that these organizations all engaged in complex efforts to harmonize legal arguments and theological rationales in order to care for and protect religious media, thereby coming to a nuanced understanding of secular law as a resource for, and obstacle to, their unique spiritual objectives
NO Includes bibliographical references and index
CN KF3080
SN 978-1-108-34944-4
K1 Religious Minorities : Legal status, laws, etc : United States
K1 Actions and defenses : United States
K1 Religion And Law : United States
K1 Religious Institutions : Law and legislation : United States : History
K1 Intellectual Property : United States : History
K1 Copyright infringement : United States : History
DO 10.1017/9781108349444