New Merton audio re-uploaded!

On behalf of Credence Communications, our offices received a call today regarding this YouTube posting. Thank you to the subscriber who brought it to our attention.

Rest assured that we have not requested any letter by any attorney be sent regarding this posting. In fact, we have requested, by separate communication, a copy of this letter as any misrepresentation concerns us greatly.

We appreciate your interest in Merton and, as long as you were not selling the audio, we would have not had any issue. We may have even suggested a link to our site.

There are other organizations who we partner with who might have had concerns about the use of these Merton audio recordings, and I will investigate if any of them might have, with sincere intentions, requested a letter be sent.

Credence Communications

I hope you're ok. Your confession shows that your right on the way of your spiritual journey. You're a sign and a guide for many of us, esp. with what you said in your vid.

Thank you, Paul. However, even if Credence woudl have been cool with me uploading the audio, I used a lot of photos without permission. I have had two messages where a photographer of one photo and the owner of a copyright of another photo recognized a photo and expressed disappointment about not receiving a credit. Not to mention a veiled threat regarding possible legal action. I would have to have credit and get permission to use every single photo I used.

It was good to give Thomas exposure. But I had to figure that someone, someday, would recognize a photo as theirs and that this someone would not be pleased.

I think Credence Communications is mistaken. They are making it difficult for a wider audience to hear Thomas Merton's insights on how we can come more fully into a life with God. They should have asked you to credit them, promote their Website and MAKE MORE VIDEOS -- probably increasing their business. Or, they should have made the videos themselves.

I have a hunch that, from a viewpoint in heaven, Thomas Merton loves your videos. I bet he loves them for being engaging, at times fun and for bringing to life so many themes that were important to him.

Thank you for introducing Thomas Merton on YouTube and to a new generation. I will pray for the people who want to put him back in a box.

Yours in Christ,
Paul

Thanks, Sven. Credence is a pretty small operation, so they are not like Sony or something like that. The reasons that they outlined for asking for me to buy a license in advance is because much work and many hours go into improving the audio quality of the original tapes for the CDs and in producing the CDs. Someone spent a lot of time to transfer these old audio tapes into a quality product, and they reason that such work needs to be compensated, which is true.

The real issue is that I knew better. I face copyright issues all of the time. For some reason, though, I went ahead and did it anyway.

Dont be to hard on yourself. People came in contact with Thomas thanks to you, you didnt dishonour him in anyway. It is very sad that current copyright law prevents information to travel and spread. Its just very sad and the companys complaining here dishounerd him more than anybody by downgrading him to commercial product.
Take care.

Thank you so much for posting these wonderful Thomas Merton videos. I read about him in a magazine last week and now I can't get enough of his insightful, touching and profound poems and lectures.

He confirms once again that the essence of all religions is the same.

May the grace and blessings of God always be with you and with your viewers.

Thank you so much for making the Thomas Merton lectures available!

May the Lord bless you and keep you!

Pax

Great links sir! I found some videos of great interest!
I hope all is well with you!
Cordially, GlobeBar