Tag: jerry DeGregory

EDITED POST OF 3-25-2017 ~ Freedom of Communication: The Misuse of Copyright Authority in The New Earth ~ January 1, 2020


PREFACE:  Below is an expression of my opinion that has removed the quoted material that was copyrighted.  The Delores Cannon Living Trust organization had objected to my having quoted the material.  Although I was not and do not intend to have the quotation to which they objected serve as any guide for hypnosis practice, its being a mere example of what I regard as not being objectionable in my use, the latter organization objected.  I removed the quotation since I simply want my argument, as stated below, to be posted without further delay.  –JLD

Greetings friends.  I did not anticipate my discussion of this topic today, hence this posting is NOT on the topic I had promised in my previous post, which I do intend to pursue very soon.  It has come to my attention that there is a great deal of confusion and, for some, anxiety, over the extent to which those who have received knowledge of certain copyrighted material can share that knowledge with the general public.  As is prudent, I will first urge anyone who has such anxieties or questions to consult a competent lawyer.  A general review of principles of fair use that are recognized in the U.S. legal system can be found by consulting this link:  https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/more-info.html.  I am not a lawyer and am not offering legal advice.  However, I am offering advice of another kind, namely, advice concerning the fair and proper use of copyright authority in a civilization in which BOTH PROPERTY RIGHTS AND INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION ARE CHERISHED.

Setting aside the question of what is legal and what is not, the question of “what is fair” is my concern here.  The principle of “balance” readily comes to the fore, as it so often does.  When it comes to the use of intellectual property such as written words , “fairness” requires that we balance the interests of the property owner, e.g., the owner of a copyrighted lyric, with those of  others who might use it.  In the U.S., it is generally acknowledged that it is unfair (indeed illegal in this case) for a non-owner to sell the lyrics and melody of a copyrighted song without permission of the copyright owner.  Even if it were not illegal, we generally do not condone the sale or any other use of someone else’s property without permission.  Yet, we witness  hundreds of websites freely sharing copyrighted lyrics and the melody and even internet videos giving detailed instructions on how to play a song– all without permission of the copyright owner.  But note, “sharing” is not “selling” or making money.  Our sense of fairness is offended were a non-owner to sell those lyrics or even claim them to be of his own design.  On the other hand, the fact that you own the copyright to a song does not mean that I, a non-owner, cannot sing that song without your permission, nor does it mean that I, a non-owner, cannot share those lyrics with anyone I choose.  I should not undermine the owner’s economic or even egotistic interest.  I would want to acknowledge, unless it were so obvious as to need no such acknowledgement, that I am not the owner of that song, lyrics nor melody; but, still, I can sing the song.  I can even teach you to sing it, if I had the skill to do so.  What I should not do is claim it to be mine if it isn’t; nor use it to make money without the owner’s permission; nor use it in ways that would materially impair the owner’s ability to do so.  All of this reflects my own sense of fairness, regardless of whether I have a legal right to behave otherwise.

Notwithstanding my own sense of fairness, practice “in the real world” can get very complicated by the laws in any given society and, of course, by how they are interpreted and enforced— a very good reason not to take MY sense of fairness as “the law.”  It isn’t.  However, I am concerned that we may become unfair in the course of interpreting and enforcing laws, and that is why I am writing this.

A case in point.  Dolores Cannon is an enormously insightful pioneer in the use of hypnotherapeutic techniques.  She is the author of many insightful books and her method has been taught to practitioners all over the world.  At present, the Dolores Cannon Living Trust owns the copyright to some core instructional material used in the training of certified practitioners.  Some of those practitioners who have certificates from the Cannon organization, have recorded their sessions with clients for the benefit of those clients.  Some of these recordings contain words which are copyrighted by the Cannon organization, as is the case for words which practitioners are trained to use in “The Induction. ” “The Induction” is a script which practitioners are trained to use in the initial stages of the hypnotherapy session.  QHHT® is the trademarked symbol for the particular technique taught by the Cannon organization.  Based on their having copyrighted the words to be used in the course of a session, the copyright owners are now informing those who are sharing recordings of these sessions to remove the copyrighted words from any recordings which they post for public observation.  That is, in the view of the Cannon organization, neither the practitioner, who is certified by the Cannon organization to use the copyrighted words IN THEIR PRACTICE, nor their clients, should make those words public.  I do not believe that such a prohibition will be found to meet the requirements of the U.S. legal system, but that remains to be seen in the event that a lawsuit is engaged.  However, I am confident in my view that such a prohibition is not at all fair, any more than it would be fair for the owner of a copyrighted song to forbid anyone from sharing the lyrics with anyone whom they choose. Performance is not to be sold by a non-owner but the song may be FREELY sung with impunity.  In a civilization in which we place a high value on freedom of communication and information, I would not offer anyone the exclusive right to the use of  words, copyrighted or otherwise. The skilled practice of QHHT®, as I am sure the Cannon organization would agree, involves much more than the verbatim repetition of words. The sharing of some of those words in a recording intended to be of instructional value to clients in no way impairs the ability of the Cannon organization to make money selling QHHT® instruction.  To the contrary, the widespread display of such recordings offers many the opportunity to hear of the therapeutic benefit of the techniques that they teach.

Since I have not signed any nondisclosure agreement, and since I am eager to demonstrate the extent to which I believe in what I have written, below is a verbatim excerpt from the copyrighted material found in an official QHHT® instruction manual.  I do not expect to be sued for it’s publication, but if I am, I hope the outcome will be of service to all who are now benefiting from the recordings posted by practitioners and their clients as demonstrations of the value of QHHT®, a technique whose value I do not dispute:

QUOTE FROM :  PROCEDURE NOTES, SUPPLEMENT PROCEDURES, DOLORES CANNON, 2012, page 1.

Dear reader, I have deleted the quoted material, DECEMBER 26, 2019, because of the WordPress response to an objection from the Cannon organization which alleged that it violates their copyright authority.  As stated in my text, I make no claim to be an authority on the legality of my prior quotation.  However, I continue to argue that, if legal authorities consider my use illegal, that is counter to a higher principle, namely, the minimal restriction of our freedom of communication.  I therefore  vigorously object to the removal of my entire article from our blog since none of my remaining text quotes any copyrighted material.  I want the argument that I have made in this article to stand as it was written, minus the quotation of the copyrighted material that I have redacted here.  The remaining text is fair criticism of current practices; it is my opinion. Respect for our freedom of communication requires that it not be deleted from public discourse on this or any other forum.–Dr Jerry L. DeGregory

END QUOTE

May the Cannon family and all QHHT® practitioners benefit in all ways from the use of the information they are providing to everyone.  May it always be so.

Sincerely.  Jerry DeGregory

PROPHECY: A HIGHER CONSCIOUSNESS LEADS TO A BETTER BALANCE ~ June 23, 2019


Editor’s Note: I really like to see articles like this one that urge us to really explore ourselves in order to find out who we really are! Yes…it is past time to merge heart feeling with head thinking. This has not been encouraged in our current society, but…the time’s they are a’ changin, my friends!

Please read this article, balance heart with head, and be…

Injoy!

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Greetings, friends.  Rosalie has urged me to share some of the thoughts that I have been expressing in another medium.  I have been working on improving my ability to express myself though the use of artwork, namely, through the use of embroidered images that I have been creating with embroidery digitizing software.

Among the many encouraging messages imparted by Kryon in channelings by Lee Carroll is the expectation of a vastly improved human consciousness.  Among the many improvements, I have chosen to illustrate this one:  There will be a balancing of masculine and feminine energies within the human population that will lead to a greater degree of harmony than we have ever known in our history.  This potential is very reminiscent of the vision we find in The Book of Revelation, in which “the lamb will lay beside the lion,” symbolic of a new paradigm of relationships among all living things, one in which those who were once predatory will be so no more and those who have been the victims of such predation will live in peace.

Listening to Kryon acquainted me with another very similar prophecy, the prophecy of  The Eagle and The Condor.  Instead of using the symbols of lion and lamb, I have used the symbols in that prophecy, the eagle and the condor,  in the embroidery design which  I have included in this post.

This is a prophecy that is found among several of the Native American peoples in both North and South America. You can find out more about it by doing a search on the words “The Eagle and The Condor.” There is much more to the prophecy than I could squeeze into my wording, sorry to say, but that is part of the challenge, saying as much as I can within very limited space– a BIG challenge for one who is well known for his verbosity!

The main theme of the prophecy begins with an observation that anyone who is the least bit familiar with human history can see: Human civilizations  have developed along divergent paths, one main path, has been that followed by highly industrialized societies; the other path has been followed by those in the non-industrialized, traditional native societies. The industrialized societies are said to have “taken the path of the head;” whereas the non-industrialized societies are said to have “taken the path of the heart.” These words, of course, are symbolic.  One group has placed a high value on the intellect. They have sought to use their brain to control the forces of nature and of the physical world to maximize physical comfort. This path produces highly developed science, technology and material wealth, but pays relatively little attention to spiritual, non-material development. Some see these as “masculine” traits and to these they add aggressiveness and, in the extreme, being “cold-hearted.”  If the symbology of the Book of Revelation were used, these would be “the lion.”  Using the symbology of the native cultures in the Americas, these would be “the eagle.”

Civilizations that have taken the second path, the path of the heart, place relatively little value on material wealth or even physical comfort; they do not revere the intellect as the only or even the best source of knowledge; they revere “feelings” and intuition rather than intellect. Rather than seeking to control the forces of nature to maximize physical comfort, they see themselves as integrated with nature and seek harmony with the spiritual dimensions of nature and all living things. Some see these as “feminine” traits and to these they add passivity and, in the extreme, being irrational and over-emotional.  This group could be symbolized as “the lamb,” or, as is done using the symbology of the native cultures in the Americas, these would be “the condor.”

There is room to add more contrasting traits, and certainly room for debate about what those traits may be, but in any case, the prophecy identifies these two basic “paths” along which the industrial and non-industrial societies may be seen to travel.

But the prophecy contains more than a description of these paths. Like the famous Mayan calendar’s prophecy, it points not to an inevitability but to a potential for change, a change which depends on whether humanity evolves toward a higher consciousness regarding the advantages and limitations of each path. If we take advantage of this potential for a higher level of wisdom than we have so far, the energies of these separate paths will converge and form a new energy, one which recognizes the value of both the physical and non-physical, corporeal and spiritual dimensions of all human beings. We can come to recognize that the Eagle and the Condor “fly in the same sky.”

Can we become neither over-intellectual nor over-emotional? Can we recognize that the capacity to love is as vital to our prosperity as is the capacity to think rationally? Can we also recognize that “being spiritual” does not require that we live in poverty; that we do not have to withdraw from the physical world in order to live a spiritually sensitive life?

Frankly, I hope so.