To: Gavin Marsic, Te Whare Matamuatanga Ō IO and United World Tribes 

Re: Copyright infringement, unauthorised reproduction, appropriation of material, and distortion of the historical record

This letter constitutes formal notice that material originating from important Arikitanga-related gatherings throughout Te Moana Nui a Kiwa has been taken, reproduced, incorporated and presented through Gavin Marsic and Te Whare Matamuatanga Ō IO without the authority or permission of the rightful creators and owners of that material.

Over a period of four years, more than 20 Arikitanga-related gatherings took place throughout Te Moana Nui a Kiwa. These gatherings involved substantial discussion, development, presentation, documentation and exchange of material concerning Arikitanga, whakapapa, tikanga, kaupapa, governance, relationships and the future direction of the Arikitanga movement.

Gavin Marsic did not participate in the majority of these gatherings. He attended only four, each by invitation.

It is therefore fundamentally incorrect for material developed through these wider gatherings and through the participation of numerous Arikitanga and other contributors to subsequently be represented as the work, development or intellectual creation of Gavin Marsic and/or Te Whare Matamuatanga Ō IO.

1. COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

Copyright exists in original works and protects the rights of their creators and copyright owners.

The unauthorised copying, reproduction, adaptation, publication, communication or incorporation of copyright material belonging to another person constitutes an infringement of the copyright owner's rights where the relevant statutory requirements are met.

Material originating from these gatherings has been used without the necessary authority.

The fact that information or material was obtained through attendance at a gathering, through relationships with participants, or through participation in discussions does not confer ownership of another person's copyright.

Nor does attendance at four gatherings provide any basis for claiming ownership of material developed through more than 20 gatherings in which the person was not present.

2. UNAUTHORISED APPROPRIATION

The material concerned was not created by Gavin Marsic alone.

It arose within a wider network of Arikitanga and contributors who participated in the gatherings, discussions and development of the relevant kaupapa.

Taking material from that collective environment and subsequently presenting it through another organisation without properly identifying its origins amounts to an appropriation of the work and contributions of others.

The issue is therefore not merely one of acknowledgement.

It concerns ownership, authorship, provenance, permission and the right to control how original material is reproduced and represented.

3. DISTORTION OF THE HISTORICAL RECORD

The representation of Te Whare Matamuatanga Ō IO and Gavin Marsic as originating, developing or authoring material that arose through a much broader history is false.

It removes the contributions of the people who were actually present and involved in the relevant gatherings and replaces the collective history with a substantially different narrative.

That distortion must cease.

The historical record must accurately identify the origins of the material, the people who contributed to its development, and the gatherings through which the relevant kaupapa was developed.

4. DEMAND

I therefore demand that Gavin Marsic and Te Whare Matamuatanga Ō IO:

Immediately cease reproducing, publishing, communicating or adapting copyright material belonging to others without permission;

Identify all material obtained from or arising from the Arikitanga gatherings that has subsequently been incorporated into their work;

Identify the source and claimed author of each such item;

Identify the legal basis upon which permission to reproduce or use that material was obtained;

Remove material that has been reproduced without the authority of its copyright owner;

Correct representations concerning the origin and authorship of material where those representations are inaccurate;

Properly acknowledge the original creators and contributors where applicable; and

Preserve all documents, correspondence, recordings, photographs, electronic files, publications, website content and other evidence relating to the acquisition, copying, development and publication of the material.

5. FORMAL RESERVATION OF RIGHTS

This notice is provided without waiver of any rights available to the rightful copyright owners and contributors.

All rights are reserved in respect of copyright infringement, unauthorised reproduction, unauthorised adaptation, publication and communication of protected works, improper attribution, and any other legal remedies arising from the conduct described above.

The history of the Arikitanga gatherings and the contributions of those who participated in them cannot simply be appropriated and rewritten.

The material has its origins. The people who created and developed it have rights. The historical record has a truth. Those origins, those rights and that history must be respected.

Dated: 10 August 2026

Kupe Nuku IO-Ariki
Tangaroa Ngaropo-Tāwio
tearatukutuku@gmail.com
029 0259 5314