The Fort Wayne man sued by an Ohio-based nonprofit that provides religious programming to public school students said Monday he considers his settlement in the copyright infringement case a victory.
Zach Parrish °®¶¹app“ a Lifewise Inc. critic who published its curriculum on noncommercial sites °®¶¹app“ told °®¶¹app he is happy the Christian organization agreed to provide public access to its lessons.
The nonprofit°®¶¹app™s program, LifeWise Academy, provides religious instruction to public school students off campus during school hours. The concept is protected by a 1952 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
°®¶¹appœIt°®¶¹app™s a major win as far as getting everybody to see (the curriculum),°®¶¹app Parrish said.
The settlement agreement wasn°®¶¹app™t available through online court records late Monday afternoon, but Parrish provided °®¶¹app with a copy showing he signed it Friday, and LifeWise founder and CEO Joel Penton signed it Monday.
LifeWise has programs in multiple northeast Indiana counties, including Adams, DeKalb, Noble, Wells and Whitley. Efforts to expand to the four Allen County districts are in various stages, according to its website.
The organization in July filed a lawsuit against Parrish in the local federal court, alleging he violated copyright laws by posting its curriculum online. The complaint asserted Parrish posed as a LifeWise volunteer in March to access and distribute its materials.
Parrish in August asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana to dismiss the case. Documents filed in the court°®¶¹app™s Fort Wayne division argued that LifeWise was misusing copyright law to punish and silence a critic.
Parrish said sharing the curriculum was about letting parents make informed decisions about their children°®¶¹app™s participation in LifeWise.
The LifeWise website states its teachings span the Bible, and each lesson reviews a Bible passage along with a character trait. As of Monday evening, website visitors could complete a form requesting temporary access to a read-only version of the curriculum.
Parents Against Lifewise, a Facebook group affiliated with Parrish, announced the settlement in a post Monday afternoon. In the update, Parrish asked everyone to delete any copies of the curriculum they might have, noting that was a condition of the agreement. He also agreed to destroy his copies.
°®¶¹appœThe only reason I agreed to this settlement is because they have agreed to allow complete access to all of their curriculum materials for all ages,°®¶¹app Parrish said in the social media post.
Parrish has said he first learned of LifeWise in 2021 during an event at his daughter°®¶¹app™s school in Defiance, Ohio. The girl, then a second grader, was sent to study hall instead of receiving instruction when classmates attended LifeWise Academy.
His daughter is now a Fort Wayne Community Schools fifth grader.
