The taking down of sannyasworld.com
{Pramod at Osho international replies to concerns about (what turned out to be temporary)closure of the Sannyasworld website. We do not agree with some of the reasoning of this letter, but we do believe that all sides of this debate should have exposure for their views.}
Pramod says:
Thank you for your letters about the closure of the sannyasworld website.
For your information, sannyasworld.com made large numbers of the Foundation's digital audios and book excerpts available for download. By email we requested that the owner of sannyasworld.com remove these files from the site as they are infringements of the copyright of Osho's works.
Because we received no response from the real site owner, we contacted the service provider about these infringements, and he later confirmed that he had requested the site owner to remove the infringing files. I am not sure why the site was completely taken down as this was not our interest. From our side we requested the removal of these specific files, nothing more.
I’m also not sure why a few select sannyasins seem to feel that they have a right to use Osho’s words as they deem fit. From the very beginning of his work Osho ensured through publicly owned foundations that he created, and where he assigned his copyright, that everything that was published was done so under license. Osho encouraged the spread of his works through publishing by the foundations and through their licensed publishers, not through pirating.
Often sannyasins say publically that they are doing this illegal activity as a support for the economically poor, perhaps a Christian conditioning. Osho’s insight is that the mind gives scant value to anything that is free. Nothing around Osho was free. For example when the Russian and Brazilian currencies crashed those of perhaps similar misunderstanding suggested to Osho that these hard pressed sannyasins be allowed to come into the meditation resort at a reduced price. Osho said no, that they could come when their currencies recovered. That it is always important to remember that freedom comes only from responsibility – and one such responsibility is that of paying.
Osho's wishes on how to make his work available through publishing have been given to people who still remain responsible today. As an example of this responsibility Osho asked for the removal of his former name from all of his works. Unfortunately, for some reason the people pirating this material are ignoring this rather important request: Too much work perhaps. The foundation has taken care of this for all of his books, for the entire audio archive and the same is in process for the complete video archive, all of which takes a massive amount of time and energy and money.
In addition Osho asked us to remove the dates from his published material in order to make his work timeless, guidance of which the pirates don’t know, don’t understand or don’t care to follow.
Similarly Osho has asked that any photos of him that are published should be from the later period where he was wearing a hat. It is his image and he is free to ask to be presented as he wishes. How many sites are there, created by people who claim to be doing what they are doing “for Osho” with pirated photos, which do not respect his wishes?
When Osho asked that his message be spread he was not talking about unauthorized pirating. Since the early ‘70's Osho's works have always been protected by copyright and have always been published with clear copyright and trademark notices. There has always been a foundation around Osho which takes care to publish, license and protect his work.
And there has been policing of the copyright from the very earliest days with trademark and copyright cases in India, the US and many other places around the world over many years, decades actually. It’s unfortunate that it is often sannyasins who go against Osho’s wishes and instructions, triggering legal action by the foundation.
Osho gave personal sworn testimony in a copyright case in the United States – in a copyright infringement action against a sannyasin – confirming his assignment of copyright to the foundation. The court held that Osho’s copyright is with the foundation and that the sannyasin was in breach of that copyright.
Endless situations have appeared where the foundation has had to take legal action to protect the work. We recently discovered a publisher who created unauthorized compilations by cutting and mixing three books and publishing them under a new self-made title. And we are currently involved in a legal action in Spain where a “massage” operation is masquerading behind the name Osho. In India we had a situation where a hotel was operating as a brothel under the name Osho despite our repeated objections and it was finally a police action that ended this travesty.
On another occasion we had a person who took an entire chapter from the Book of Secrets, put it on his website and signed his name as author. In all these instances, and these are but a few of literally hundreds of examples, we were able to stop this theft of Osho’s work by enforcing the copyright.
Of course people are free to discuss any matter they like on any site they like and sannyasworld.com certainly entertains any view including those personal attacks slandering anyone and everyone involved in this work in ways which are often so mean spirited and absurd as to be laughable. And on Osho.com, it is purely an Osho site. No personal attacks, no politics, no opinions from the unenlightened or pseudo enlightened: Just Osho.
It is the legal responsibility of the board of Osho International Foundation, the owner of all registered copyrights of Osho, to pursue any infringement of the copyrights to the fullest extent of the law. To not do so would tarnish the strength of the copyright and would be a gross avoidance of the responsibilities proposed by Osho prior to his leaving his body.
As noted we have pursued hundreds of violations from Buenos Aires to Seoul and have had court rulings directing that publishers pulp and destroy copyrighted material across many countries. We have had Osho content removed from countless websites failing which the sites are disabled. Please understand that this process of policing will be ongoing and it is choiceless.
When Osho left his body the foundation was selling less than 150,000 books a year. Today this existential message is available in 56 languages selling many millions of books a year. There are currently 2800 individual Osho titles under contract with more than 200 publishers worldwide. In addition Osho.com is independently measured as being in the top 1% of websites in the world by traffic. Following Osho’s shared insights and guidance seems clearly to be working.
I hope this background information can help to clarify any misunderstandings.
Much love,
Pramod
