The Freedom From Religion Foundation (“FFRF”) filed a copyright infringement suit today against publisher Ulysses Press and author Jonathan C. Criswell. Criswell copied extensive material from the popular Freethought of the Day feature on FFRF’s website, and Ulysses Press published the copied material in a book. Of the 500 quotations in Criswell’s book, approximately 300 were copied from FFRF’s website.
FFRF’s Freethought of the Day, which now includes nearly 800 entries, has been compiled with great effort, care and judgment by FFRF employees beginning in 2004. Each Freethought of the Day quotation has been selected, edited and arranged after careful research and verification by FFRF employees.
FFRF filed the suit to prevent Criswell and Ulysses Press from unjustly reaping profits from FFRF’s copyrighted work, and to protect the market for FFRF’s future Freethought of the Day publications.
The suit is Freedom From Religion Foundation v. Bookpack, Inc., United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, Case No. 11-CV-634.