permaculture

[Scott Pittman <pci@permaculture-inst.org>]

Cover letter to Permaculture and other associated Journals

RE: The following press release



11 May 1999

Dear Editor:

We frequently receive notifications from teachers and students of their
intention to alter or change the Permaculture curriculum or to restrict
teachers or students in their pursuits to teach or study and also laying
claim to the material. This material is vested in the Institutes and the
graduates of courses and to that extent in common ownership. But the
material itself was solely evolved by the author and the original curriculum
taught in 1979 was devised by the author alone. People tend to loose sight
of this and claim ownership by adoption. (For some reason this is happening
most recently in Australia). Thus we need to periodically re assert
ownership and to legally update copyright. At my death copyright shall
remain with the Permaculture Institute in Australia and Permaculture
Institute Inc. in USA and their directors and the same laws shall apply,
that is teachers can not claim personal ownership of the curriculum or sell
it or give it way without infringing copyright law.

We would very much appreciate you printing our reasserting as you are a
vehicle for information on Permaculture. Thank you in advance for your kind
attention to this matter.



Most Sincerely,



Bill Mollison

Director


RESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE PUBLICATION

>From Bill Mollison, Author, Permaculture: A Designer's Manual

For further information, contact Lisa Mollison

Phone: 61 3 6445 0945 Fax:61 3 6445 0944 email: lisam@tas.webnet.com.au

11 May 1999

RE: Ownership of Permaculture Curriculum

Periodically, it is necessary to reassert my ownership of the original
Permaculture curriculum, which is also legally asserted by publication of
the Permaculture Manual in 1988 of which the contents of the book and the
word Permaculture are copyrighted to the author and that any use of said
curriculum must be by application to the author, that is not to secretaries
or other directors, but to the author only. The Permaculture Design Course
handbook issued by the Permaculture Institute to students for many years now
is simply a concise outline of said curriculum, and subject to the same
laws. If any person writes a text book, in particular a foundation text book
for a subject, no other person can assert ownership of that text, lay out or
illustrations nor can any group of people substantially alter or assert
ownership of the text. We have always specifically guarded ownership of the
PC curriculum so that all students have much the same experience in common
no matter what their cultural or financial backgrounds are, they would have
a common and equal education experience. 

Both this Institute and our American Institute in Santa Fe, Permaculture
Institute, Incorporated, are attempting to establish an academy that will be
legally able to issue higher degrees this is a long process and will not be
running smoothly for some time to come.. The Permaculture Institute began
issuing diplomas to students after two years practical work following their
certificate course in about 1988. It is and shall remain the registrar of
all diploma holders globally. This diploma is widely recognized through
other institutions and some universities, like Humboldt State University and
Slippery Rock University, etc...

.

In the past re-assertions of copyright have appeared in the Academy
Yearbook, p. 17 and have been reproduced in the 1998 American Permaculture
Directory, p. 6. Students publishing curriculum which often contain word for
word copies of copyrighted material from the manual and course handbook
cannot sell that curriculum nor can institutions purchase said curriculum or
teach it, even if presented under other names, such as Sustainable
Agriculture or Sustainable Designs. All such people need to write their own
curriculum and textbooks and not plagiarize my work nor my illustrations. It
would be refreshing if people wanting to publish would create their own
material and did not plagiarise mine.

This note is to restate the current position so there can be no
misunderstandings about ownership of the material. 

Thank you,



Bill Mollison

Director, Permaculture Institute


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