INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY POLICY
Lakû Mètrès La Institute of Spiritual and Holistic Ginen Sciences
PURPOSE, AUTHORITY, AND SCOPE
PURPOSE, AUTHORITY, AND SCOPE
This Intellectual Property Policy exists to formally protect the intellectual, spiritual, ceremonial, cultural, and creative works generated, curated, restored, and transmitted through Lakû Mètrès La Institute of Spiritual and Holistic Ginen Sciences [the Institute].
The Institute operates as a lineage-based spiritual and educational body. Its works are not informal teachings, open-source material, or public-domain content. They are the product of ancestral inheritance, ritual authorization, disciplined study, lived service, and original authorship developed within a protected spiritual structure.
This policy carries both ethical and legal authority. It governs how Institute knowledge is accessed, used, transmitted, protected, and enforced.
This policy applies to all forms of Institute material, regardless of medium, including oral transmission, written documentation, ceremonial instruction, digital distribution, live teaching, recorded content, and derivative expressions.
This policy applies to all individuals who encounter Institute materials, including but not limited to:
- Students, Vodounvi, Hounsi, and initiates at all levels
- Instructors, Manbo, Houngan, ritual facilitators, and ceremonial assistants
- Staff, administrators, contractors, and consultants
- Collaborators, guest teachers, visiting practitioners, and affiliates
- Former participants, regardless of reason for departure or length of involvement
No status, title, or tenure exempts an individual from this policy.
DEFINITIONS AND INTERPRETIVE CLARITY
DEFINITIONS AND INTERPRETIVE CLARITY
For the purposes of this policy:
- Institute Materials refers to all content, structures, teachings, frameworks, and expressions created by or for the Institute.
- Authorized Use refers only to use explicitly permitted in writing by the Institute.
- Unauthorized Use includes any use outside personal study within granted access.
- Derivative Work includes adaptations, summaries, reinterpretations, reorganizations, or re-presentations based on Institute materials.
- Transmission includes teaching, publishing, sharing, recording, translating, or reformatting content.
- Lineage Responsibility refers to ethical and spiritual obligations attached to receiving and carrying ancestral knowledge.
Ambiguity does not imply permission. Silence does not imply consent.
OWNERSHIP OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
OWNERSHIP OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
All Institute Materials are the exclusive intellectual property of Lakû Mètrès La Institute of Spiritual and Holistic Ginen Sciences unless otherwise stated in a written, signed, and dated agreement.
This ownership includes, without limitation:
- Copyright
- Moral rights
- Trade dress
- Common law intellectual property protections
- Spiritual authorship and lineage authority
Protected works include, but are not limited to:
- Curricula, syllabi, lesson plans, manuals, senaryo, instructor scripts, and student readings
- Ritual structures, ceremonial sequences, invocation formats, mantras, chants, instructional rites, and ritual ethics
- Written works including books, workbooks, journals, essays, meditations, affirmations, lectures, and teaching texts
- Audio and visual materials including recordings, podcasts, chants, ceremonies, live classes, and replays
- Logos, seals, sigils, symbols, designs, illustrations, visual language, color systems, and branded imagery
- Digital products including online courses, portals, templates, PDFs, downloads, archives, and multimedia collections
- Educational architectures, initiation pathways, teaching methodologies, spiritual systems, and pedagogical sequencing
- The Institute’s name, titles, ranks, designations, proprietary terminology, phrasing, and linguistic structures
Access to these materials grants no ownership rights. Possession does not equal permission. Learning does not equal authorship.
CULTURAL, SPIRITUAL, AND LINEAGE PROTECTION
CULTURAL, SPIRITUAL, AND LINEAGE PROTECTION
Vodoun and African Traditional spiritual systems are ancestral and collective. However, the Institute’s specific configuration, instructional design, ceremonial sequencing, ethical framing, translations, integrations, and teaching methodology are original works protected under this policy.
The Institute rejects extractive spirituality, aesthetic borrowing, and content commodification divorced from lineage accountability.
The following constitute violations of cultural and spiritual integrity:
- Removing teachings from their ceremonial or ethical context
- Teaching fragments without proper initiation or authorization
- Rebranding Institute teachings as generic, intuitive, or self-created knowledge
- Translating or paraphrasing teachings to obscure their source
- Monetizing ancestral material received through the Institute without permission
Ancestral knowledge is not neutral. It carries consequence. To misuse it is to break covenant, not just policy.
PERMITTED USE AND LIMITATIONS
PERMITTED USE AND LIMITATIONS
Authorized participants may:
- Study Institute materials for personal spiritual development
- Reflect privately through journaling and contemplation
- Practice rituals and disciplines explicitly assigned to their level
- Engage with teachings internally, without external transmission
Permitted use is:
- Non-transferable
- Non-exclusive
- Revocable at any time
Permitted use does not include teaching, mentoring, publishing, recording, reposting, translating, summarizing for others, or presenting the material as general knowledge.
STRICTLY PROHIBITED USE
STRICTLY PROHIBITED USE
The following actions are expressly forbidden:
- Copying, reproducing, or storing Institute materials beyond personal access
- Recording live teachings or ceremonies without permission
- Sharing screenshots, PDFs, notes, or transcripts
- Uploading content to social media, websites, cloud drives, or group chats
- Creating derivative works including courses, books, workshops, retreats, or coaching programs
- Teaching or referencing Institute material as personal insight or independent discovery
- Using Institute rituals, structures, or language to form parallel organizations, covens, schools, or lineages
- Claiming implied authorization based on time served, money paid, or proximity to leadership
Violation may result in immediate removal, revocation of titles or certifications, spiritual separation, and legal enforcement.
STUDENT, HOUNSI, AND INITIATE ACKNOWLEDGMENT
STUDENT, HOUNSI, AND INITIATE ACKNOWLEDGMENT
By enrolling or participating, individuals explicitly acknowledge that:
- All materials remain the property of the Institute
- Teaching authority is conferred, not assumed
- Titles, ranks, and permissions are conditional and revocable
- Leaving the Institute does not transfer rights
- Ethical obligation continues after departure
No grievance, disagreement, or personal interpretation voids this responsibility.
POST-DEPARTURE OBLIGATIONS
POST-DEPARTURE OBLIGATIONS
Former participants remain bound by this policy indefinitely.
Post-departure restrictions include:
- No use of Institute materials in future teachings or platforms
- No representation of continued affiliation without authorization
- No repackaging of Institute content as former training or background material
- No implication of lineage authority derived from the Institute
Violation after departure is treated as willful infringement.
COLLABORATIONS, CONTRIBUTIONS, AND WORK-FOR-HIRE
COLLABORATIONS, CONTRIBUTIONS, AND WORK-FOR-HIRE
All collaborative work is presumed Institute-owned or jointly owned unless otherwise specified in writing.
Guest teachers and collaborators must:
- Execute written agreements prior to participation
- Acknowledge Institute ownership where applicable
- Refrain from repurposing Institute frameworks or language
No verbal agreement supersedes written terms.
ENFORCEMENT, REMEDIES, AND CONSEQUENCES
ENFORCEMENT, REMEDIES, AND CONSEQUENCES
The Institute reserves full authority to enforce this policy through spiritual, administrative, and legal means, including:
- Formal cease-and-desist notices
- Revocation of access, titles, ranks, or certifications
- Removal from programs, platforms, and community spaces
- Civil remedies, financial damages, and injunctive relief where applicable
Protection of this work is protection of lineage, discipline, memory, and future transmission.
POLICY UPDATES AND CONTINUING CONSENT
POLICY UPDATES AND CONTINUING CONSENT
This policy may be updated at any time. Updates take effect upon publication.
Continued participation constitutes acceptance of all revisions without exception.
CONTACT AND AUTHORIZATION REQUESTS
CONTACT AND AUTHORIZATION REQUESTS
All requests regarding permissions, licensing, collaboration, or authorized use must be submitted through official Institute communication channels.
Assumptions, indirect messages, or third-party statements do not constitute authorization.