Editing Urantia Foundation

{{short description|American nonprofit organization associated with The Urantia Book}}
[[File:Urantia three-concentric-blue-circles-on-white symbol.svg|thumb|right|Symbol representing the Urantia Foundation and Urantia Book]]
The '''Urantia Foundation''' is a [[Chicago]]-based [[non-profit]] organization, founded in 1950, that provides materials, promotes events, and provides guidance associated with ''[[The Urantia Book]]''.

==Purpose==

The main purpose of the foundation is to provide for the dissemination of ''The Urantia Book'' and to ensure that the text remains as unaltered as possible. It published the first copy of the book to be made available to the public in 1955. The organization maintains integrity of the text and authorizes specific translations. The Urantia Foundation was inaugurated to preserve exclusive domain over the names "The URANTIA BOOK," "Urantia Brotherhood," "Urantia Foundation," and "Urantia Society" for at least one generation.<ref>Page 7: THE PLAN FOR THE URANTIA BOOK REVELATION By Carolyn B. Kendall http://www.squarecircles.com/UrantiaMovementHistory/pdf/PlanForUrantiaBookRevelation.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120127112214/http://www.squarecircles.com/UrantiaMovementHistory/pdf/PlanForUrantiaBookRevelation.pdf |date=2012-01-27 }}</ref>

==Copyright and trademarks==

In 1995, a United States jury trial in [[Arizona]] found that the Urantia Foundation's 1983 renewal of the book's [[copyright]] was invalid.<ref>[https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=393008609643699469&hl=en&as_sdt=2&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr Urantia Foundation v. Maaherra (D. Ariz. 1995)]</ref> However, that decision was overturned on appeal.<ref>[https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=4011213220383829206&hl=en&as_sdt=2&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr Urantia Foundation v. Maaherra (9th Cir. 1997)]</ref>

In 2001, a United States jury trial in [[Oklahoma]] again found that the Urantia Foundation's 1983 renewal of the book's copyright was invalid.<ref name="court_decision_1">[http://www.freeurantia.org/judgmentUF.htm Michael Foundation, Inc. v. Urantia Foundation v. Harry McMullan, III] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905135016/http://www.freeurantia.org/judgmentUF.htm |date=2008-09-05 }} US District Court decision by jury that Urantia Foundation does not hold the copyright to ''The Urantia Book''</ref> However, this decision was upheld in the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit]],<ref name="court_decision_2">[https://www.urantiabook.org/archive/history/appeals_court_decision_031103.htm Michael Foundation, Inc. v. Urantia Foundation v. Harry McMullan, III] US Court of Appeals affirms the jury decision that Urantia Foundation did not have valid copyright renewal ''The Urantia Book''</ref> creating a circuit split as to whether the English version of the book is considered to have entered the [[public domain]] in the US as of 1983.  In 2006, the international copyright on the English text expired.<ref name="UFAR2006">{{cite web |title=2006 Urantia Foundation annual report |url=http://www.urantia.org/pub/AR2006.pdf |publisher=urantia.org |access-date=2008-03-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513184516/http://www.urantia.org/pub/AR2006.pdf |archive-date=2008-05-13 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The Urantia Foundation placed the three blue [[concentric circles]] logo on the cover of ''The Urantia Book'' and has a United States [[trademark]] for that symbol. The circles are also used with foundation approval to indicate other affiliated organizations.

==See also==
* ''[[The Urantia Book]]''
* [[New religious movement]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

'''Further reading'''
*{{cite book |last=Lewis |first=Sarah |chapter=The Urantia Book |editor-last=Partridge |editor-first=Christopher |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6-kkOBKTjK0C&pg=PA144 |title=UFO Religions |date=2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-25159-8 |pages=144–145}}
*{{cite book |last=Rapport |first=Jeremy |editor-last1=Melton |editor-first1=J. Gordon  |editor-last2=Baumann |editor-first2=Martin |date=2010 |chapter=Urantia Foundation, The |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v2yiyLLOj88C&pg=PA3021 |title=Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices |edition=2nd |volume=1 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-59884-204-3 |pages=3021–3022}}
*{{cite journal |last=Rhee |first=Christina |date=1998 |title=Urantia Foundation v. Maaherra |jstor=24116666 |journal=Berkeley Technology Law Journal |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=69–81}}

==External links==
* [http://urantia.org/ Urantia Foundation]

{{New Religious Movements}}

{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Foundations based in the United States]]
[[Category:The Urantia Book]]
[[Category:New Age organizations]]
[[Category:1950 establishments in Illinois]]
[[Category:Religious organizations established in 1950]]
[[Category:New religious movements established in the 1950s]]