Legal controversy between Answers in Genesis and Creation Ministries International

Answers in Genesis is an organization promoting young Earth creationism that was started from the merger of two Australian creationist organizations in 1980. However, in February 2006, the AiG "family" split over several issues. AiG's branches in the United States and United Kingdom retained the AiG brand name and the website. Meanwhile, the Australian, Canadian, New Zealand, and South African branches rebranded themselves as Creation Ministries International (CMI).
Lawsuit
Legally, AiG comprised six separate nonprofit organizations in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. However, the six branches had very close organizational ties. There was considerable overlap between the boards of the organizations; for instance, AiG founder Ken Ham, based in the United States, served on the Australian organization's board, while several leading members of AiG Australia served on the US board.
A legal and personal dispute broke out between the Australian and US arms of AIG in 2005, involving claims of unethical dealing in the handling of magazine subscriptions and autocratic leadership on Ham's part. AIG, in return, accused the leaders of the Australian ministry of "spiritual problems", asking, in correspondence to AiG CEO Carl Wieland, if he had issues with immorality, and enlisting a former enemy to exhume decades-old allegations of witchcraft and necrophilia against a CMI staffer (now Wieland's wife). A brief analysis of the situation is described in an account in the Reports of the National Center for Science Education.
In March 2006, the ministries split, and the offices in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa, "by unanimous vote of their respective Boards, rebranded" as CMI. Only the US and UK offices still retain the AIG brand.
A lawsuit was filed on 31 May 2007, by CMI in Supreme Court of Queensland against Ken Ham and Answers in Genesis, seeking damages and accusing "unbiblical/unethical/unlawful behaviour" in Ham's dealings with the Australian organisation.
CMI produces Creation Magazine and the Journal of Creation, formerly distributed by the US and UK AIG offices to their respective countries prior to the split. The Australian group maintains it was disconnected from all its American subscribers when the US office "announced on its web site (without telling us, the publishers) that it was ceasing to distribute both of these publications (and simultaneously announced its own magazine)." The case also concerns use of the trademark "Answers in Genesis" within Australia, and alleged misuse by Ken Ham of his position as a director for the Australian group to cause it detriment.
Answers in Genesis has had little to say in public to these accusations, but in comments to news reporters Ken Ham dismisses them all as "totally preposterous and untrue".
Creation Ministries had made a large collection of documents available detailing its side of the case.
In November 2007, CMI again updated their website to inform readers that, although the Hawaii talks resulted in a verbal settlement acceptable to both parties, AiG had subsequently reneged by substantially modifying the written result of the talks through the omission of major planks of the verbal agreement and the insertion of new, unagreed clauses (which were not specified) in a new written proposed contract.
Throughout early and mid-2008, AiG and CMI filed various legal documents with the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. According to CMI the filing were for AiG to avoid "accountability under the Australian legal system before Australian courts. It has also ignored/rejected several previous offers by CMI of Christian arbitration under that Australian legal system.". In August 2008, AiG "objected to conditions" in a "relationship-restoring mediation" with a Christian judge, who then dropped out of the mediation.
In April 2009 the ministries reached a settlement and ended their dispute.<ref name=disputesettled/>

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