The Religious Technology Center (RTC) is an American non-profit corporationLetter by the Internal Revenue Service to Flemming Paludan, Regional Director, Danish Tax-Office, Washington, D.C., USA, December 22, 1993 that was founded in 1982 by the Church of Scientology to control and oversee the use of all of the trademarks, symbols and texts of Scientology and Dianetics. Although RTC controls their use, those works are owned by another corporation, the Church of Spiritual Technology.
Since 1987, David Miscavige has been the head of RTC with the title "Chairman of the Board".
While exercising authority over the use of all Dianetics and Scientology materials, RTC claims that it is not involved in the day-to-day management of the Church of Scientology; that role is assigned to a separate corporation, the Church of Scientology International (CSI). According to the RTC website, "RTC stands apart as an external body which protects the Scientology religion and acts as the final arbiter of orthodoxy" and its stated purpose is "to protect the public from misapplication of the technology and to see that the religious technologies of Dianetics and Scientology remain in proper hands and are properly ministered".
In a 1993 memorandum by the Church of Scientology International (CSI) to the Internal Revenue Service, CSI wrote about RTC's personnel and its income: "RTC ... owns the Scientology religious marks and advanced technology. It licenses the marks to CSI for sublicense to subordinate churches and directly licenses the advanced technology to appropriate churches. Through this structure RTC assures that practice of the Scientology religion within the ecclesiastical hierarchy under CSI's authority as Mother Church remains strictly orthodox, in accordance with the Scientology Scriptures. This church has a staff of approximately 50 individuals and an annual budget of approximately , based on its annual disbursements for the most recent year for which financial statements are available."Summary Description of Churches of Scientology - RTC, CSI, CSFSSO, CSFSO, Other Churches, Missions, Field Ministers, CSI Prod. 11-4-93, Bate Stamp: 151396 - 151398, Ex. 1-3, Washington, DC, 1993
History
Corporate establishment and officers
RTC was incorporated on January 1, 1982, in Los Angeles, California, by Terri Gamboa, David Mayo, Norman Starkey, Phoebe Mauerer, Lyman Spurlock, Julia Watson, and David Miscavige.Articles of Incorporation of Religious Technology Center, Endorsed Filed in the Office of the Secretary of State of the State of California, Los Angeles, California, January 1, 1982 Six months later, on June 15, 1982, the Articles of Incorporation were restated.Restated Articles of Incorporation of Religious Technology Center, Bate Stamp: A 253931, Los Angeles, California, June 15th & September 13th, 1982 On April 8, 1986, they were amended in order to clarify the disposition of RTC's assets upon the dissolution of the corporation.Certificate of Amendment of Articles of Incorporation - Religious Technology Center, Los Angeles, California, April 8th, May 13th & 14th, 1986
On September 21, 1993, the following individuals held corporate positions at RTC: the Board of Trustees was composed of David Miscavige, Gregory Wilhere, and Norman Starkey. The members of RTC's Board of Directors at that time were Mark Rathbun, Warren McShane, and David Miscavige. RTC's President was Mark Rathbun, its Secretary Warren McShane, and its Treasurer Barbara Griffin.
A 2024 filing with the Secretary of State of California listed Warren McShane as CEO, Darnelle Bloomberg as Secretary, Barbara Griffin as CFO, and the principal address as 1710 Ivar Avenue, Suite 1100, Los Angeles CA 90028.
Obtaining tax-exempt status
On August 19, 1993, RTC filed an application for tax exemption under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.Form 1023 - Application for Recognition of Exemption Under Section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code - Religious Technology Center, Washington, DC, August 19th, 1993 In the same year the Internal Revenue Service granted RTC's request for exemption.
The granting of tax exemption to RTC and other Scientology corporations was preceded by years of continuous litigation between the IRS and the various entities of Scientology. According to former high-ranking executives, the Scientology organization had launched about 200 lawsuits against the IRS until 1991. During the same time, individual parishioners of Scientology had initiated 2,300 claims against the agency, challenging the denial of tax deduction for their services at Scientology organizations. Late 1991, the dispute over Scientology's tax-exempt status began to resolve through high-level meetings between David Miscavige and the then Commissioner of the IRS, Fred Goldberg, who encouraged a final resolution of the legal battle.
Organizational structure and management RTC stands hierarchically at the top of the Church of Scientology network. It has regulatory, corporate and ecclesiastical power over the policy and activities of all other Scientology management units, corporations, churches, missions and other organizations—with the only exception being the Church of Spiritual Technology. The position of RTC is notably visible in a drawing titled "The Command Channels of Scientology", which the Church of Scientology International (CSI) and RTC provided to the IRS in their application for tax-exempt status. The Church of Spiritual Technology was not included in that application.The Command Channels of Scientology, Sketch depicting the hierarchical structure of the network of the Church of Scientology, the drawing was provided by CSI to the IRS in their application for tax-exempt status in September 1993
RTC is led by David Miscavige, who has held the title of Chairman of the Board since 1987. Miscavige has been in leading positions within the Scientology management since the early 1980s. Prior to being in his current position, Miscavige had been a member of the Commodore's Messenger Organization and had been instrumental in the internal purge of the Guardian's Office, the former intelligence service and legal defense unit of the Scientology network. Between 1982 and 1987, he was the chief executive officer and later the chairman of the board of the for-profit corporation Author Services Inc. (ASI). Archive page 2, page 3, page 4
In 1994 Miscavige asserted that the role and position of RTC within the Scientology network "is not part of Church management, nor is it involved in the daily affairs of various Church of Scientology organizations or missions.Declaration of David Miscavige, Church of Scientology International vs. Steven Fishman & Uwe Geertz, Case No. CV 91-6426 (HLH (Tx), U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Riverside County, February 8th, 1994 Such representations stand in stark contrast to declarations of high-level ex-Scientologists, who have worked in the Scientology management. Former CSI security officer Andre Tabayoyon and former RTC second-in-command Jesse Prince have stated in affidavits and declarations that RTC and its chairman David Miscavige maintain de facto control of the entire Scientology network, including the Church of Scientology International.Affidavit of Jesse Prince United States District Court, Central District of California, San Jose Division case no. C-95-20091 RMW (EAI)
For several years, the above-mentioned "Board of Directors RTC" consisted of David Miscavige, Marty Rathbun, and Warren McShane.RTC short bio's for David Miscavige, Mark Rathbun, and Warren McShane archived in 2001 & 2002
Control of other corporations
At the time of RTC's 1993 filing for tax exemption, RTC controlled four other corporations: Inspector General Network (IGN) has served as legal representative for RTC and secular registered owner of RTC's trademarks and service marks "in countries where contracts by religious corporations are not enforced". All corporate positions in IGN were held by members of RTC. WISE, Inc., at the time of Scientology's application for tax exemption, had been a dormant corporation from Delaware. It had the same functions as IGN, prior to IGN's incorporation in 1985. RTC Australia was incorporated in 1986 as a regional office for RTC in Australia. It is a dormant corporation and has obtained tax exempt status. Inspector General Network International AB (IGN Int) was incorporated in 1992 in Sweden. The organization was founded to register Scientology trademarks and service marks as a nominee for RTC in countries such as Libya or Iran "that do not recognize and will not do business with any United States entity".
Inter-corporate licenses
RTC is the owner and licensor of numerous trademarks and service marks. The marks and its related intellectual property form the "Dianetics spiritual healing technology" and the "Scientology applied religious technology".Copyright and trademark notice of the book "Dianetics" by L. Ron Hubbard, Los Angeles, California, (c) 1950, 2000,
Scientology service organizations—the churches, missions and celebrity centres—derive their income from sales of this "technology" in the form of training courses, auditing, books, etc. The right to sell the "technology" is granted through license agreements with RTC as the primary license holder or with the Church of Scientology International (CSI) as a sub-licensor. RTC and CSI in return derive their corporative income from the license fees. The licensing and its related actions are a major corporate activity of these organizations."License Agreement - CSI (Marks)", License Agreement between Religious Technology Center and Church of Scientology International, California, May 18th, 1982
Church of Spiritual Technology (CST)
Shortly after its inception on January 1, 1982, RTC received on May 16, 1982 "the ownership, supervision and control" of the trademarks and service marks identifying "Scientology applied religious philosophy" and "Dianetics spiritual healing technology" by the originator and founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard through an "assignment agreement"."Assignment Agreement (LRH/RTC) (Marks)", Notarized Agreement between L. Ron Hubbard and the Religious Technology Center, County of Los Angeles, California, May 16th, 1982 This agreement was subject to an additional "Option Agreement" between Hubbard, RTC and another Scientology corporation, the Church of Spiritual Technology (CST). In two "Option Agreements" from May 1982, Hubbard granted CST the right to purchase at any time from RTC the "Marks", the "Advanced Technology" and all the rights to them for the sum of ."Option Agreement (Marks)", Notarized Agreement between L. Ron Hubbard and the Church of Spiritual Technology, County of Los Angeles, California, May 10th, 1982/July 9th, 1982Option Agreement (Advanced Technology-U.S.) - Notarized Agreement between L. Ron Hubbard and the Church of Spiritual Technology, California, May 10th & July 9th, 1982 Parallel and similar-sounding agreements between Hubbard, RTC and CST were created during that period concerning the "Advanced Technology", which consists of unpublished derivates of Scientology's confidential "Advanced technology" (OT Levels)."Assignment Agreement (LRH/RTC) (Advanced Technology - US)", Notarized Agreement between L. Ron Hubbard and the Religious Technology Center, Los Angeles, California, May 10th & 16th, 1982 Under these agreements RTC is to turn over 90% of its net income to CST. A document from 1991, reflecting the "financial money flows" of RTC during the year 1989, showed a turnover of 59% of RTC's net income towards CST."Religious Technology Center - Analysis of Financial Flows 1989", Exhibit I-9 for Application for Tax-Exempt Status 501(c)(3), Bate Stamp: CSI Prod 11-4-93 151414
Church of Scientology International (CSI)