by Dave Graham
One of the very first issues to be addressed following my new role within EARTh led me to make a simple check on our code of ethics. The decision by The Newton Institute (TNI) to take out an international copyright on the terms ‘Life Between Lives’ and ‘LBL’ made me focus on where EARTh stood on this issue.
While there may be question marks over the wisdom in copyrighting a term that is already in common use in this field, it is nevertheless within the power of those that claim originality to assert that copyright. It is also within the power of others in the field to challenge this legally, although there are even more question marks over the wisdom of this.
In my view, the poorest form of wisdom for associations that are devoted to enabling people to overcome their personal issues would be to devote their resources into legal challenges that lead us in a completely different direction. There are better ways to direct our resources.
It then comes down to how the copyright holder intends to implement the copyright. In this case TNI made it absolutely clear that their main concern is aimed at poor quality versions of LBL becoming commonplace. Plagiarism and misrepresentation of their methodology are also a part of their concerns.
As far as EARTh are concerned our response had already been defined many years ago when the criteria of the association was being defined. Our code of ethics indicates the quality of energy that an EARTh therapist takes into the relationship with their client. The quality of energy is a key ingredient in the therapeutic relationship. It enables change to occur.
You can read the statement that resulted from the discussions with TNI below in this Newsletter.
