The Operating Thetan (OT) materials are the confidential advanced level course materials of Scientology, studied by members who have completed the earlier Bridge to Total Freedom and been admitted to the upper levels. The materials set out auditing and training procedures said to address a person's spiritual state beyond the point reached in Dianetics and the lower Scientology grades, and the church treats them as both a trade secret and a copyrighted, unpublished work. Copies entered the public record through litigation and unauthorized postings in the 1990s, most notably Religious Technology Center v. Netcom, which turned on whether the church's copyright and trade secret claims could stop online distribution. The atlas records what the OT materials are without reproducing their wording.
Facts
Status
Canonical StatusConfidential advanced-level doctrine studied within Scientology's own practice; this classification records canonicity only and reproduces none of the materials' content, matching its own record, which already states the atlas records what the materials are without reproducing their wording. Current StatusHeld confidential by the Church of Scientology and the Religious Technology Center as a trade secret and unpublished copyrighted work; portions entered the public record through 1990s litigation over unauthorized online posting. 3 Status TodayLiving tradition, practised today 2 Origins
Era of CompositionSince the 1960s when Hubbard invented the OT levels 1 OT levels I-VII were written through the 1960s and 1970s; OT VIII, the last one Hubbard wrote, is explicitly dated to 1980. Its 1988 public release date, two years after Hubbard's 1986 death, is a release date and is not used as a composition date. Attributed Author / Compiler Text
Literary Form Structure
StructureConfidential advanced-level course materials studied after completing the earlier Bridge to Total Freedom, setting out auditing and training procedures said to address a person's spiritual state beyond Dianetics and the lower Scientology grades; held as a trade secret and copyrighted, and the atlas describes what portions entered the public record through 1990s litigation without reproducing the wording. 2 Connections
Authored By
The Operating Thetan materials were written by L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology.
Belongs to Tradition
Source The Church of Scientology: A History of a New ReligionHugh B. Urban
In Language
Originates in Language
Source The Church of Scientology: A History of a New ReligionHugh B. Urban
Sources
1. Operating Thetan (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationWikipedia: Operating Thetan, Confidentiality sectionQuote, Wikipedia: Operating Thetan, Confidentiality section
Since the 1960s when Hubbard invented the OT levels, they have been considered confidential. ... The original version of the OT VIII confidential document was written by Hubbard in 1980 and released in 1988, two years after his death in 1986.
2. The Church of Scientology: A History of a New Religion
Hugh B. Urban, Princeton University Press, 2011- Scientology's upper levels and the OT materials
- Originates in Language: English, Stored language property on this entity, cited to this source: english
View the Source 3. Religious Technology Center v. Netcom On-Line Communication Services, 923 F. Supp. 1231 (N.D. Cal. 1995)
United States District Court for the Northern District of California, United States District Court for the Northern District of California, 1995copyright and trade secret litigation over the OT materialsView the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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