"The Doctor exhibits many of the traits we associate with a person: intelligence, creativity, ambition, even fallibility. But are these traits real, or is the Doctor merely programmed to simulate them? To be honest, I don't know. Eventually, we will have to decide, because the issue of holographic rights isn't going to go away.

"But at this time I am not prepared to rule that the Doctor is a person under the law. However, it's obvious that he's no ordinary hologram. And while I can't say with certainty that he is a person, I am willing to extend the legal definition of 'artist' to include the Doctor. I therefore rule that he has the right to control his work..."

Arbitrator's ruling - The Doctor vs. Broht & Forrester - Stardate 54753.4

With that decision, the very first step towards defining holographic sentience was taken. Over the course of the next two years, the journey towards establishing the rights of holograms was a complex and intricate one.

Predictably enough, it continued with the very same plaintiff: the EMH who served as Chief Medical Officer aboard the USS Voyager. Only called "The Doctor" at the time, he had accumulated an impressive record of achievements.

In 2375, that same hologram recruited a Mark-II EMH to retake the USS Prometheus. This prototype starship had been taken over by Romulans, and her crew murdered. Although its resident Mark-II EMH was not designed with the same intuitive capabilities as its predecessor, this particular EMH (also a prototype) cooperated with Voyager's Mark-I, thus turning the tables on their captors.

The Mark-II was interviewed following the incident, and confessed that its key incentive to participate - other than any inherent loyalties to Starfleet - was a promise made by the Mark-I to copy over the latter's subroutines which would enable sexual function. When asked whether the Mark-I had kept its word, the Mark-II neither confirmed nor denied that any programming enhancement had taken place.

Observations of Voyager's Mark-I EMH attracted much attention. According to the report, its program had been relayed from the Delta Quadrant by way of an alien sensor net to the nearest Starfleet vessel within range. It was made apparent by the EMH's statements that its mission to inform Starfleet of Voyager's situation was regarded by Captain Janeway as an away mission, and strictly voluntary. First hand accounts indicate its conduct had been proper and well-mannered in the presence of Starfleet personnel, and exceptionally polite and diplomatic in its interactions with headquarters. These have never been characteristic traits of the Mark-I

Voyager's EMH made it a point to request that a commendation be considered for the Mark-II's performance record. This suggested that this Mark-I qualified for incentives right along with Voyager's crew.

It fascinated interviewers that Voyager's EMH agreed to a mission which was not medical by nature, and therefore not conducive to its programming. By the Mark-II's account, the Mark-I claimed to have fraternized with the crew, pursued hobbies, and even taken shuttle lessons. The Mark-II gave the Mark-I credit for devising the plan to disable the Romulans by releasing anesthesia through the environment (though it was quick to credit itself for tricking the ship's sensors into triggering the ventilation system).

The Mark-I was eager to return to Voyager, and was retransmitted from the coordinates provided. Subsequent efforts made to send correspondence and orders along the same sensor net were met with success, until Voyager eventually moved out of range.

This visit raised several eyebrows and even more questions, not so much over Voyager's plight - although its rescue became a consideration of high priority - but the ultimate fate of the Mark-I medical holograms. It was at this time that plans were under way to take the EMH Mark-I's offline. The Doctor's visit caused Starfleet to reconsider. The holograms would be spared: their matrices would be reinforced for long-term use, and they would be put to work elsewhere.

In 2377, that same EMH was transmitted in lieu of crew correspondences via the Midas Array to the Alpha Quadrant. Its mission: to treat EMH creator Lewis Zimmerman for a terminal illness. Dr. Zimmerman was successfully diagnosed and assigned a treatment regimen, a feat the best Federation doctors and latest model EMH had been unable to accomplish.

While the Mark-I's notes made a valuable contribution to the Starfleet Medical Journal (as did several essays and medical logs submitted via datastream in the months to follow), again it was its behavior which attracted the most attention.

Reports by Lieutenant Barclay and Commander Troi indicate that this holodoctor practiced superb bedside manner (a daunting feat for any physician considering the patient), and expanded its range of hobbies and interests to include music, art, holophotography, literature, and a wide assortment of games. It was also startling to learn that since 2375, it had been reconfigured with full autonomy protocols, thus possessing the ability to make major alterations to its own program and grant levels of access to others.

In late 2377, an unprecedented move was made at the behest of Starfleet Intelligence to offer Voyager's EMH a full commission. The hologram was to serve aboard the USS Plato, one of a trio of ships intended to create a Federation presence in the Delta Quadrant. It would discretely serve as medical, xenobiological, and cultural consultant to the fleet while conducting its duties as Chief Medical Officer. Negotiation by datastream resulted in concessions which satisfied both parties: the Intrepid Class ship would be refitted with holoemitters throughout, a mobile emitter would be provided for offship use (SFI possessed several of these devices salvaged from the rubble of Chronowerx, a structure once owned by 20th century entrepreneur Henry Starling), and the hologram would be assigned officer's quarters. To sweeten the deal, the hologram was assigned a field rank of Lieutenant Commander by Fleet commander Admiral Sulvac.

The only mystery was how to bring a duplicate of its program to homespace in its entirety. A renegade hologram of Lieutenant Barclay inadvertently solved that problem; with the necessary shield modifications, it was determined that non-organic materials could survive a trip through a geodesic fold. With regret, the Plato's head nurse caused irreparable damage to the hologram's program when she caused the mobile emitter to come in contact with a neurostimulator. Lieutenant j.g. Katherine McCullan was duly court-martialled and stripped of rank for acts leading to the mishap, which were recognized as motivated by bias.

(Note: In 2380, Plato's sole survivor - Chief Engineer Lieutenant Kovala - reported that the hologram was known among the crew as "Dr. Mark Zimmerman.")

In early 2378, the Doctor - as it was still referred to by Voyager's crew - won a landmark case and established recognition for itself as an artist in the eyes of the Federation. In addition to several character witnesses among Voyager's crew, including Captain Kathryn Janeway herself, the arbitrator accepted testimony from Lieutenant Reginald Barclay. Apparently Lt. Barclay had established a rapport with the hologram which had grown into a friendship. Counselor Commander Troi confirmed that Mister Barclay was in fine mental health, and that his history of behavioral disorders attributed to holo-addiction had no bearing on his association with Voyager's EMH; their friendship was genuine. Action was promptly taken against Ardin Broht of Broht & Forrester. The publisher had made significant profit in an amazingly short time by distributing unauthorized copies of a draft the Voyager's EMH submitted for a holonovel proposal. All copies were recalled, and a revised version was released three months later by a rival publisher to brisk sales.

News of Voyager's EMH through the years held the interest of many throughout the Federation, both civilian and Starfleet. Not surprising, the official release of its holonovel, Photons Be Free, brewed controversy. Regardless of where sympathies lay, reviews were as intense as the message conveyed in the novel itself. When the USS Voyager reached the Alpha Quadrant, it was only a matter of time until their Doctor would pursue full status in the eyes of the Federation.

Releasing it under the auspices of Pathfinder was merely a formality. While it was common knowledge that Lt. Reginald Barclay had "assigned" custody of the hologram to its creator. However, it was rumored that the real reason for its preservation was that it had been designated the godfather of Admiral Paris' granddaughter while in the Delta Quadrant, and Admiral Paris wanted to maintain a rapport with his son while his daughter-in-law served her sentence in New Zealand. It was no secret that the EMH had free access to all facilities on Jupiter Station, and often piloted shuttlecrafts alone to Earth when its services were required to tend to Miral, either in a familial or medical capacity.

The inevitable came when the Doctor was called upon to diffuse a situation at a distant mining outpost. The Mark-I's there had decided to hold a sit-down strike in exchange for more personal time. It was suspected that they had all run Photons Be Free over the past few months, and planned together to take action.

The arrival of Lt. Barclay with the author of said holonovel resembled the coming of a savior. By accounts, a representative among the striking holograms welcomed the Doctor, and conducted a tour of the facilities. Charges were immediately brought against the mining company, as stories of how those whose matrix destabilized were forced to continue working - much to the distress of those holograms working nearby - came out in testimony. It became apparent that the Mark-I's - which Starfleet had sought to preserve when their sentience initially came into question three years earlier - were essentially being worked to death under deplorable conditions.

The trial extended to cover the sentience of the Mark-I holograms, as Voyager's former EMH charged the Federation with enslavement of a species. Although many character witnesses he requested be subpoenaed were either dead or imprisoned, Lt. Barclay was able to cull evidence in the form of Voyager logs. They more than proved the Doctor's sentience based on the three parameters of Intelligence, Sense of Self, and Consciousness.

A startling piece of testimony involved the reading of a log entered by the Borg Seven of Nine, which mentioned in great detail a situation which required she store the Doctor's program in a cybernetic implant. The council was awed by the fact that the hologram was not only able to maintain its individuality apart from Seven of Nine, but was also able to experience the full range of biological sensory perceptions. This more than proved that the Doctor himself was indeed a conscious entity, whose essence - or soul - was hosted by a holomatrix.

The defense had the court subpoena a Mark-I currently serving aboard a sanitation barge in orbit around Terra at the time of the trial. The program was brought in to testify as a hostile witness. The hologram was activated and asked a barrage of questions by experts, including those abstract and artistic in nature. Much to their dismay, with the exception of its dour mood - common to Mark-I's - its responses proved that it possessed a sense of self and a definite flair for creativity and imagination. Also, once explained why it was there, the hologram understood perfectly what was at stake. By the end of these hearings, the hurdle had been crossed: the Mark-I EMH's which Dr. Lewis Zimmerman had developed were recognized as sentient, and thereby officially declared artificial life forms.

Out of this came the moral implications of what Starfleet had done to hundreds of sentient beings over the years, what it was going to do about it, and what would be done to prevent the same thing from occurring again. The case expanded to include all types of holograms.

When all was said and done, the following had been established:

1. All Mark-I EMH holograms were deemed citizens of the Federation.

2. Those holograms established as life forms would therefore each be regarded as individuals, and special measures would be taken to prevent their matrices from being duplicated.

3. A set of programming limitations were devised for all levels of holographic development to abide, which would prevent the inadvertent creation of a new life form rather than a well-programmed tool or recreational character. Very particular procedures would be followed should the need arise for a new sentient hologram to be developed. The responsible party would follow these guidelines to the letter.

In the wake of these monumental decisions, the Federation invited their key holographic representative to act as consultant in developing a program, which would prepare the Mark-I's for their new lives. Thus, the EMHRP came to be.