Copyright battle erupts over Cleon Skousen's books

The late writer W. Cleon Skousen was no stranger to legal matters, since he served as Salt Lake City's police chief and for years worked for the FBI.

But the conservative LDS author probably did not know that three years after his death, a court battle would erupt over the copyright ownership of two of his books.

A lawsuit in federal court is seeking a declaration that C&J Investments, an organization Skousen founded, holds the rights to the books titled "The Five Thousand Year Leap" and "The Making of America."

The lawsuit targets another organization, the National Center for Constitutional Studies, a nonprofit group that Skousen also created to distribute materials that espouse conservative political principles.

Skousen named C&J for himself and his wife, Jewel, in 1980, and three of their sons have run the firm.

Skousen in 1971 formed what was formerly known as The Freemen Institute, which later became National Center for Constitutional Studies, to promote political conservatism. Skousen retired as the group's president in 1987.

The lawsuit states that Skousen provided a limited oral license to the center to print the two books, but transferred the copyrights to his books to C&J.

The lawsuit states that outside publishers and C&J recently have been negotiating about issuing a new edition of "The Five Thousand Year Leap," but the center and its chief executive officer, Zeldon Nelson, are potentially ruining the deal and future opportunities because the center is claiming it has "partial copyright" and a "printing right" to the book.

A recent recommendation from radio and Fox News Channel talk show host Glenn Beck propelled "The Five Thousand Year Leap" to No. 1 last month on Amazon.com's list of bestsellers in books.

E-MAIL: lindat@desnews.com