Anthony Robbins Cos. Issues Statement Regarding Jury Verdict in Copyright Lawsuit

Business Wire,  Oct 6, 1998  

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SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 5, 1998--Anthony Robbins Cos. Monday issued the following statement. -0-

"There is simply no evidence to support the allegation that Tony Robbins profited from the use of four words that are used every day," said Sam Georges, general counsel and chief operating officer for Anthony Robbins Companies, in response to a jury verdict yesterday in Tacoma on the question that Robbins had used four words for his financial and marketing seminars claimed to be owned by Wade Cook. "Furthermore," Georges added, "Mr. Cook (the plaintiff) doesn't own these words any more than he owns the dictionary."

The suit was brought by Cook, a former cab driver and self-proclaimed financial expert. During the two-day trial in U.S. District Court in the courtroom of Judge Jack E. Tanner, the jury heard Cook's attorneys allege that Robbins had somehow profited by using the term "meter drop," a phrase traditionally associated with taxi-cab meters, and "rolling stock," a common Wall Street concept regarding the purchase of stock which means "buy low and sell high."

Cook's initial complaint alleged that Robbins had used 11 such phrases from a book he had written, but the court threw out seven of his claims prior to trial, and the jury found against Cook on two more.

Georges said that Robbins, the highly successful peak-performance author and lecturer, made no attempt to deny having said those words in some of his seminars. Robbins also said that the terms had appeared a few times in a 350-page course manual that he gives out, at no cost, to people who attend these seminars. Robbins gives out other materials as well free of charge to seminar students. Despite the fact that Cook testified that he got the phrases from others which he then used in his book, the jury awarded him copyright-infringement damages of $655,900.

"The fact remains, however, that no evidence was presented which demonstrated that Robbins profited by uttering either phrase," Georges said. "It's that simple. We plan to file a motion to set aside this verdict and will aggressively pursue a reversal in this case, and we're confident that will be the result."

The jury did not hear about Cook's financial and legal problems, which, according to a Bloomberg news service report, include a suit by the attorney general of Texas against his company, Wade Cook Financial, alleging that Cook's company falsified its records, failed to disclose to his seminar participants that the company lost money trading stocks for its own account, and didn't offer students a three-day right of rescission.

Further, according to Bloomberg, Wade Cook Financial's 1997 annual report disclosed that the company lost $804,493 trading stocks for its own account last year using the principles taught in his course.

Bloomberg's report also states that Wade Cook Financial is under investigation by the Washington state attorney general and the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to its amended annual report filed with the SEC in July. The account continues to say that Fresno County California Senior Assistant District Attorney Alan Yengoyan said in April that the company could face suit for the no-refund policy at its seminars, which could violate state law that allows seminar students three days to change their minds and ask for a refund.

According to another published report in the San Diego Union, the Arizona Corporation Commission revealed that it had received $320,000 from Cook as "restitution for investors who purchased stock in two of his previous companies." That same report said that Cook paid a fine of $150,000 and that the state had charged Cook "both civilly and criminally with securities violations, according to Sharon Fox, assistant enforcement director of the securities division." The paper also cited an April 30, 1997, SEC filing indicating that Cook filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Phoenix in 1984, and the matter was not discharged until 1992.

Cook, who holds seminars to advise people on investing in the stock market, also sought financial damages from Robbins for the phrase he claimed to have coined, "Don't get greedy." The jury threw that out.

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