Sex and the Marriage Covenant
In the late 1990s, I prepared a slightly revised edition, but some of the staff members objected to the section on marital rape, thus leading to an extended out-of-print status. This was the book whose copyright had always been registered in my name but which CCL transferred to itself without my knowledge. When I learned of this at a Board meeting in mid-2003, I was so upset that I thought it prudent to leave the room for a bit. One employee who was involved with the copyright transfer of Sex and the Marriage Covenant to CCL later apologized, telling me he felt he had betrayed me. He was correct, but it was more than just saying something snide behind my back. The “transfer” of the copyright from the author—me—to the publisher—CCL—completely without my permission constituted the theft of the copyright, something so clearly unlawful that I still wonder why they did it. Certainly they had to realize that when I found out they would either have to reverse their action or find themselves in court. But that was management at the time. In addition, [the ED] contacted the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and had the Imprimatur lifted from the book. Without going into the details, I eventually regained my copyright of the book and was allowed to seek another publisher. I also regained the Imprimatur for my book and was very pleased with the comments by the priest who did the ecclesiastical review.
This is the book, then titled Birth Control and the Marriage Covenant, that helped Kimberly and Scott Hahn to accept Catholic teaching against birth control when they were still Protestants. Ignatius Press published the revised version in September 2005. We are forever grateful to Fr. Joseph Fessio, SJ, for his interest in this book that had been out of print for more than three years.
(Excerpts from Battle-Scarred, page 204-205 Battle-Scarred: Justice Can Be Elusive by John F. Kippley is available at a 50% discount at lulu.com during NFP Week.