MoFo Takes Scientology Case
 
 PAPER: The Recorder 
 
 DATE: 03/15/95 
 
 SECTION: News page 3 
 
 HEADLINE: Mofo Takes Copyright Case Of Scientology Church 
Critic 
 
 By: Mark Walsh 
 
 SAN JOSE -- Morrison & Foerster has agreed to take the case of a
 former member of the Church of Scientology who was sued by the
 organization for allegedly distributing copyrighted church
 documents on the Internet. 
 
 MoFo intellectual property litigators Harold McElhinny and Carla
 Oakley will represent Dennis Erlich in one of the first cases to
 test the scope of online copyright law. The two partners
 declined to comment on their fee arrangement in the case, but
 their client said that it was taken on a pro bono basis. 
 
 Erlich, a Scientology believer-turned-critic, is a defendant in
 a suit filed by the church last month in San Jose federal court
 over the posting of copyrighted and "trade secret religious
 materials" on the Internet. Also named in _Religious Technology
 Center v. Erlich_, C95-20091, are Netcom On-line Communication
 Services Inc. and Tom Klemesrud, a Los Angeles electronic
 bulletin board operator. 
 
 The church alleged that San Jose-based Netcom and Klemesrud are
 liable for assisting Erlich in posting the materials, which
 included excerpts from the speeches and writings of church
 founder L. Ron Hubbard. 
 
 In connection with the suit, U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte
 granted a church motion to allow the seizure of allegedly
 infringing materials from Erlich's Glendale home. 
 
 "What caught our attention is the idea that a federal judge can
 sign an order on an _ex parte_ basis to allow an organization to
 conduct a search of a critic's home," said McElhinny. "I found
 that unprecedented and I found it frightening." 
 
 Subsequently, Whyte denied a motion for a preliminary injunction
 against Netcom and Klemesrud, and dissolved a Feb. 10 temporary
 restraining order barring them from posting copyrighted
 materials. However, he let stand a TRO against Erlich,
 preventing his unauthorized use of the works of Hubbard. 
 
 Erlich, who has been representing himself so far in the
 litigation, said he was pleased with his new counsel. "I don't
 know that I could have a more appropriate firm to represent me,"
 said Erlich, who was turned down by several other firms in Los
 Angeles and the Bay Area, including Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich &
 Rosati. 
 
 McElhinny said the firm had no trepidation about the church's
 reputation for aggressive litigation tactics. "I don't have any
 preconceptions about the Church of Scientology," he said. "I
 know vaguely that it exists and has been involved in
 litigation." 
 
 He noted that the firm was contacted about the case through
 Klemesrud's lawyer, Richard Horning of San Francisco's Horning
 Janin & Harvey. Erlich also was assisted in his search by the
 Washington, D.C.-based Electronic Frontier Foundation, an
 electronic rights advocacy group. 
 
 McElhinny said one of his initial aims is to continue a March 17
 hearing on a contempt motion against Erlich for allegedly
 violating the TRO by continuing to post protected material on
 the Internet.