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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Letter..................
EMAIL RECEIVED FROM A MURID DONOR Z OF CANADA
Ya ali madad President Talib,
On behalf of all Canadian Donors of the new Ismaili Centre, we convey Mubaraki's to entire Canadian Jamat on its opening. We would like to take this opportunity to share with you some of the fundamental inappropriate experiences faced by the canadian donors.
First of all, till the last week, the donors were not informed as to number of passes they would get to the opening, thus in some cases important family elders were unable to travel in time.
On the day of the opening, the donors were told to go to the Japanese Centre and get a shuttle bus to JK. People had lined up very early and were constantly being given different times before shuttle buses would take them to the Centre. Finally, the buses started transporting the donors, however, to our utmost surprise when we reached there there were already long line ups as many other International Donors and Invitees had been taken there earlier from their hotels.Thus the canadian donors were pushed right at the back of the entrance lines.
Once inside, there were volunteers checking the yellow cards and were ushering the donors to their seats. Many Canadian Donors including my wife and myself were ushered to seats in the middle of the hall as the volunteers informed us that we had designated seats. We all took our seats and after some time a man who was not from Canada but from member of some Institution came to where the canadian donors had been seated and asked us all to move out and informed us that these were designated seats for LIF, the ushering volunteers were appalled as these seats were specifically designated for canadian donors. All the prominent canadian donors were shunted apologetically away and into corners of the hall as by then all the seats were taken. My wife and myself and some other donors had to go and sit at the back of the hall in a corner where we could hardly see the stage. A very prominent canadian donor and his elderly parents were taken to sit in the extreme left corner of the hall where the elderly parents could not see anything. They all had tears of pain in their eyes. Just before the ceremony was to begin, a whole group of Donors from the UK who were not LIF members were ushered to the seats that we had originally been assigned and were later shunted out. WE all were appalled as some of the UK donors had given less amount of donation then many canadian donors. We also saw the Institutional Man who had removed us from our seats was personally ushering the UK donors to our designated seats. Upon further investigation, we learnt that this man was the secretary to the LIF and lived in London. We asked some of the UK donors as to how they came late and yet were given the best seats in the hall and were informed that they all know Mr.Shafiq Sachedeena who works with Hazar Imam and at every opening he ensures that the UK donors get the best seats! This is shocking!!! Nepotism at the highest level in our religion!! When HazAr Imam came to meet donors on departure Mr.Shafiq also ensured that the UK donors were strategically placed and introduced to Hazar Imam.
MR.PRESIDENT YOU AND YOUR COUNCIL AND ALL THOSE INVOLVED IN RAISING DONATIONS FOR THE CENTRE FAILED THE CANADIAN DONORS. AN INVESTIGATION SHOULD BE STARTED IMMEDIATELY ON THE ABOVE EVENTS, THE CHAIRMAN OF LIF SHOULD GET INVOLVED AND REPRIMAND THOSE WHO USE THEIR INSTITUTIONAL POSITIONS FOR NEPOTISM.THESE EVENTS HAVE HURT THE CANADIAN DONORS TERRIBLY, YOU SHOULD PERSONALLY CONTACT EACH CANADIAN DONOR AND LEARN THEIR UNFORTUNATE EXPERIENCES.
A LETTER OF THESE SHOCKING EVENTS WILL ALSO BE PERSONALLY GIVEN TO HAZAR IMAM.
IT IS TIME THAT THE LEADERS STOP PLAYING WITH THE DONORS. A FULL INVESTIGATION OF THESE EVENTS SHOULD BE CARRIED OUT IMMEDIATELY AND DISCUSSED AT THE LIF AND MEASURES TAKEN TO ENSURE THAT THESE DOES NOT HAPPEN AT OTHER EVENTS.
Hurting Canadian Donors.
Mr. Librarian, I hope you post this letter. I am sure this will go further.