WCG litigation settled

By Ralph K. Helge

We are pleased to announce that the Worldwide Church of God (the "church") has reached a successful conclusion in its lawsuit against the Philadelphia Church of God ("PCG") through a mutual settlement.

As most of you will recall, the PCG copied and published Mystery of the Ages, which was owned by the church. As a consequence it was necessary for the church to file a lawsuit in order to protect its assets, although it had no pleasure in doing so.

PCG reacted by filing a counterclaim in which they requested permission to print and distribute other works. It is not our intention to go through all the details of the lawsuit at this time. The reason being, the entire lawsuit has been settled, and we hope that it will bring an end to recriminations and that the peace of Jesus Christ will prevail.

In brief then, the court entered an injunction against PCG, prohibiting it from making any additional copies, or further distribution, of Mystery of the Ages. The matter had reached the point where it was pending hearing on the amount of damages and other issues. In accordance with the settlement, all claims are settled, the injunction will be vacated, and the entire lawsuit dismissed.

During the litigation, the church decided that it would be financially prudent to publish for historical purposes some of the literary works written by Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong and sell them. Sixteen such pieces of literature were printed and published (all containing a preface explaining that most of the doctrinal material in the books is not biblically sound).

During the last year or so, PCG made different offers to license or purchase some or all of the literary works in question, and thereby settle the litigation. As the church did not consider that the amounts offered were sufficient, the offers were rejected. But then PCG made a substantial offer of $3 million to purchase 19 of the literary works written by Mr. Armstrong, and settle the litigation.

The church board of directors and some of its officials met to consider this offer. It was concluded that the church would never be able to make this amount in royalties by publishing and selling the individual works, the settlement would result in the receipt of substantial assured revenue for use in proclaiming the gospel and would circumvent further intensive, costly litigation and years of court proceedings as the matter wound its way through the appellate process.

Another consideration was the widespread availability of the works on the Internet from numerous sources, making it increasingly costly and difficult to thoroughly defend these particular copyrights and prevent distribution of unauthorized copies.

As a consequence, it concluded that prudent business practice demanded that it was a business opportunity that the best interest of the church dictated should be accepted. Therefore, a settlement agreement has been signed and, as of the date of this writing, the matter is pending the opening of escrow.

We want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your prayers in this matter, and God’s blessing on the church for the favorable outcome.

Copyright © Grace Communion International, 2003