Talk:Authorship of A Course in Miracles

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This article is currently the subject of a Request for Comment. The stated subject of the request is: 'Matter of Original Research and unverifiable sources.' Please remember to follow Wikiquette, which is particularly important when trying to resolve a dispute.

This article was previously nominated for deletion. Before doing so again, please review these discussions. Keep (and possibly merge), 27 April 2006 Keep, 23 June 2006

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[edit] Importance

The case was closed. The book is out of print. There is no further copyright. The case received no noticable media attention. So why is this important? Ste4k 13:50, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

The case was decided, not closed. The book is still in print and selling well, according to Amazon. Gene Ward Smith 21:13, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

Thanks Gene, I have also seen now (since my earlier statement) at least two other versions of this book online. I am wondering what authenticates and/or distinguishes for example the version sold by Amazon now, and the versions which came from earlier manuscripts. Editorial comments, pov statements, etc., are bound to have been introduced by various parties. The case in question was dismissed, and was in regards to Penguin books et. al. suing another party for copyright violation. The court case shows that the decision blames the loss of copyright on the mishandling of early distribution by the FIP. The question I have now is whether one form of the book should be stated by the encyclopedia as having any more credence than another. In this particular instance, for WP to make that assertion, appears to be more disputable than a NPOV statement of fact. Following the guidance of Jimbo, I think it would be best to avoid including misleading or false information, and provide zero information instead. Ste4k 12:49, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Merge nomination

I just nominated this article to be merged with A Course in Miracles (book). I realize that it is consensus that this article should be kept as per two votes. But the first vote, after all, resulted in what was in reality a consensus to merge. I think that since some people are trying to make a more coherent page about A Course In Miracles by merging all of the other articles, this one should be merged as well. Again, strictly speaking, the first consensus was to merge. The Deletrix 04:17, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

I think it's a great idea. There are only perhaps two problems with original research in this Authorship version. First, in the first sentence the cited resource says absolutely nothing about the number of languages the book has been translated to.

This article says: "A Course in Miracles (The Course) is a book of spiritual philosophy and practice claimed to have been channeled, or "scribed", by New York psychologist Helen Schucman and first published in 1976. It has since sold over one million copies worldwide and has been translated into over a dozen foreign languages."

The cited source says: "A Course in Miracles,the 1976 three-volume set of books that became a spiritual curriculum for many individuals and study groups. Course remains a cult favorite, retaining a spot above 500 in the Amazon rankings and selling an estimated 1.5 million copies."

Second, this article says: "In 1996, Penguin Books and Foundation for Inner Peace, which at that time asserted copyright later transferred to FACIM, sued ..."

The cited sources of the article to be merged into say: "Judith Skutch Whitson and her husband started the Foundation of Para-Sensory Investigations, Inc. (FPI) in October of 1971. In June of 1976, the Foundation for Parasensory Investigation changed its name to The Foundation of Inner Peace due to Schucman's distaste for the former name. ...control of the copyright was essentially transferred to the Foundation for "A Course in Miracles" (FACIM) in 1983 when it was organized by Wapnick, the Board of Directors being himself, Judy Skutch Whitson, and her husband Robert Skutch. "

Notice that the dates in the first statement and the word "later" do not align correctly with the sources. Ste4k 05:40, 3 July 2006 (UTC)