## Facts

- Religious Technology Center (RTC) claimed copyright and trade-secret rights in confidential Scientology “Advanced Technology” materials (OT levels).
- In separate litigation, the materials appeared as attachments (about 69 pages) to an affidavit filed in an unsealed federal court record, making them available for public inspection for a period.
- Former Scientologist Arnaldo Lerma obtained the affidavit and posted substantial portions of the materials online; RTC obtained temporary injunctive relief and a writ of seizure that was later vacated.
- Lerma sent the affidavit to The Washington Post; RTC asserted the materials were confidential and improperly obtained, and the Post returned the physical copy.
- Knowing the affidavit was in a public court file, a Post reporter obtained a copy directly from the clerk’s office while the file remained unsealed; the record was sealed later.
- The Post published a news article about Scientology’s litigation tactics and included three brief quotations from the materials.
- RTC sued the Post and its reporters for copyright infringement, trade-secret misappropriation, and related claims based on acquisition and publication.

## Issues

1. Whether the Post’s limited use of excerpts in a news article constituted copyright infringement or was protected as fair use.
2. Whether asserted trade-secret rights could be enforced against a newspaper that obtained the materials from an unsealed court record and used minimal quotations.
3. Whether injunctive relief against publication would constitute an unconstitutional prior restraint under the First Amendment.

## Decision

- The court granted summary judgment for The Washington Post and its reporters.
- The Post’s three brief quotations in a news report constituted fair use and did not create copyright liability.
- Trade-secret claims failed because the materials had been publicly available in an unsealed court file, defeating secrecy as against those who lawfully obtained them from the record.
- Injunctive relief against the Post was denied as an impermissible prior restraint on protected reporting about judicial proceedings and matters of public concern.

## Legal Principles

- Fair use favors limited quotation for news reporting and commentary, particularly where the use is small in amount, non-substitutive, and connected to reporting on public controversy or court proceedings.
- Information placed in an unsealed judicial record is generally not protectable as a trade secret against third parties who lawfully obtain it from that public file; later sealing does not retroactively restore secrecy against prior lawful acquisition.
- Courts may not impose prior restraints on the press absent an extraordinary justification; proprietary or religious confidentiality interests do not ordinarily justify restraining publication of lawfully obtained information from public court records.
- Summary judgment is appropriate where no genuine dispute of material fact exists and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

## Conclusion

The court held that a newspaper that lawfully obtained an unsealed court filing and used only minimal excerpts in a news article could not be held liable for copyright infringement or trade-secret misappropriation, and that attempts to restrain such publication would violate core First Amendment limits on prior restraints.


Religious Tech. Ctr. v. Lerma, 908 F. Supp. 1362 (E.D. Va. 1995)