Hilliard-based LifeWise Academy, which holds off-site school day Bible study for public school students, settled a copyright lawsuit with a parent.
LifeWise was suing Zachary Parrish of Indiana after he obtained and shared the nonprofit's curriculum online. The settlement requires Parrish to destroy his digital or physical copies of the Bible study curriculum. Parrish also cannot copy, post or upload the curriculum.
“We dropped the lawsuit because Parrish has agreed to remove full versions of LifeWise curriculum from Facebook and elsewhere and will not distribute full copies,” LifeWise CEO Joel Penton said in a statement.
The settlement requires that going forward, LifeWise has to offer access to its complete and current curriculum to anyone who requests it. LifeWise will only make the curriculum available for 48 hours at a time, but people can request to see it over and over again.
The settlement also dismisses the lawsuit against Parrish.
RELATED: Hilliard-based program offers Bible study during school hours. Some parents have concerns.
Parrish said while there are parts of the settlement he doesn’t like, overall, he's happy with the results.
"I mean, the whole point was to get this available and accessible to the parents that want to see it so they could make informed decisions,” Parrish said. “And I think they're able to do that now."
He said he’s “not thrilled,” with the 48-hour time window, but didn’t expect LifeWise to “budge” on that decision.
“There's like 400 pages of documents just for year one. So, to try to go through that in 48 hours is crazy. But, you know, I guess you just have to go back and request it again,” Parrish said.
He also was disappointed that, while LifeWise will allow screenshots of curriculum to be published, people are only allowed to capture half of a page.
“I just thought that was a little odd,” Parrish said.
RELATED: Ohio lawmakers pass religious release requirement and 'Parents Bill of Rights' for schools
Parrish, who previously lived in Defiance, Ohio, is a founder of the group Parents Against LifeWise. He originally got LifeWise’s curriculum by signing up to be a volunteer, he said.
"I went through and saved it because I knew that people had been denied, even preachers and different pastors from churches,” Parrish said. “Before any of this, they weren't showing it to anybody. So, that was the reason that I published it initially had nothing to do with, you know, infringing their copyright or trying to profit off it.”
Lifewise’s Penton said the nonprofit believes in transparency and has “encouraged families and communities to learn more about LifeWise and the positive impact of Bible-based character education.”
“Our concern has always been ensuring that the parameters of our licensing agreement with the publisher of the curriculum are followed,” Penton’s statement said.
Parrish signed off on the settlement on Dec. 20 and Penton on Dec. 23, according to a copy of the settlement provided by Parrish.
