Intellectual property theft, ‘black-shelfing’ and lawfare

In WW3 watch out for unethical entities and wealthy investors exploiting our skills and expertise.

A constant, unresolved debate around AI is intellectual property theft (IPT). But we shouldn’t forget, even without AI intervention, IPT is a legal quagmire. In my role as educationalist I’ve been a victim of IPT. This is a common crime in New Zealand for many reasons – our toxic workplaces, relatively low pay and Tall Poppy Syndrome all mean professional expertise is often disrespected and undervalued. (Oh, and there’s the laziness, too).

I want to draw readers’ attention to the risks from those who unfairly exploit our IP – in any sector. This is a problem when we (understandably) put our trust in someone who appears to be ‘on our page’. Reflecting on my own experiences and also on an interview with an overseas filmmaker, I explain ‘black-shelfing’ as a strategy of IPT – obtaining IP by deception to delay and/or ‘bury’ outputs. What role will AI play in this kind of fraud and other WW3 lawfare going forward?

Unlike being a tourist, living in a different country certainly provides some objectivity, which exposes some stark realities. What ‘woke me up’ to the fact NZ is not the society that the PR machinery of Immigration NZ portrays? Here’s three examples of my initial ‘citizen engagement’ (oblivious back then to the depths of corruption):

• I submitted a ‘Letter to the Editor’ of my local newspaper, raising concerns about drinking water contamination (it was censored).
• I sent my first Official Information Act (OIA) request about the accuracy of some educational data (it was methodologically flawed).
• My GP admitted how she regularly circumvented rules so that treatment for virtually any condition was free.

And more, much more. Over time I came to accept: corruption is ubiquitous in NZ. Another really important element of the (hidden) corruption and fraud I (and others) experience here, is intellectual property theft (IPT). It’s that I want to focus on.

Intellectual Property Theft in 2025

AI is stealing everyone’s IP, claim legacy media headlines. But don’t panic, according to NZ Government lawyers Dentons:

“NZ have adopted a “light-touch, proportionate, and risk-based” regulatory approach, aimed at providing reassurance and fostering AI growth in the country, with the view taken that existing legislation already provides adequate guardrails and so further regulatory intervention is necessary only to unlock innovation or address acute risks.” (source)

Really? Does ‘existing legislation already provide adequate guardrails’? How? What about IPT risk before these AI interventions? As I’ve explained elsewhere, it was the toxic workplace experience at a NZ university, that was my tipping point. There, IPT was explicit and even normalised – I can’t believe I fell for it more than once. Subsequently, as an academic-in-exile, I was blacklisted, so applying for jobs was speculative. If (un)lucky enough to be asked for a second (or third) interview, I’d be requested to write and present a whole lesson or even a whole module to a course – and stupid me fell for it (we’re always seeking recognition).

After an interview (BC) that involved a whole day’s (funded) travel to Welly, an institutional manager rang me to say how stunned she was that my interview, presentation and (lots of) additional work was ‘the best she’d ever seen’ – but sadly the role had to be given to someone else (who happened, incidentally, to be the unqualified sister of an existing staff member). Of course. I wasn’t surprised to later see my work edited and republished under the name of one of that university’s staff. IPT is an often unacknowledged, hidden crime. It’s pure exploitation.

But with the benefit of hindsight, I’m fortunate not to be entangled in any university now. As these entities’ lifeblood from Chinese students’ fees income, crashes, and post-covid-era mandates decimates the collegiality within so many departments (with deaths and ill-health adding to the chaos), these Government institutions are the victims of controlled demolition without even realising it. None of us trusts in these academic institutions anymore. I never will.

But what about when a trusted entity is guilty of IPT? We already know that some of these so-called Freedom Fighters are perhaps not as squeaky-clean as they claim. For instance, I’ve written about Dr Aseem Malhotra’s links to AI-interventions in ‘healthcare’, and other disingenuous ‘MAHA’ projects.

And I’ve also highlighted how Prof Angus Dalgleish is (still) heavily invested in the (cancer) ‘vaccine’ industry, despite claiming he is against unethical, experimental genetic injections:

Then there’s the spread of dubiously-sourced ‘health supplements’ and ‘emergency kits’ from The Wellness Company and its ilk, sold to a skint audience still buying into some of the fear-mongering propaganda: “…for the next time”…

So, I’m curious about this research topic – i.e. international supporters of freedom – whether academic or another field – who could be exploiting the trust of those they claim to support. For instance, I was intrigued to read in this German interview how the maker of a documentary series exposing the covid fraud, was apparently a victim of IPT. The director of Oval Media, Robert Cibis (who was also involved in the production of the (now infamous) controversial Corona Investigation Committee’s evidence with Reiner Fuellmich) explained:

“our company [was] repeatedly hampered in our work. People who had approached us as supposed supporters, turned out to be malicious actors, intent on causing harm. We had to fend off sabotage and fraud by various business partners. We were successful, but this slowed production.” [NB AI helped me with this translation]

I noted that one of the commenters wanted to highlight that Cibis wasn’t entirely to be trusted (who is?!) He has provided interviews in English too, judge for yourself:

I was intrigued by his German interview because Oval Media is named on so many censored and shadow-banned films many of us have found valuable. Peace, War and 9/11 for example, Jacqui Devoy’s A Good Death and Climate: The Movie. And of course one of the best, a Spanish-based, crowd-funded doco about the covid era: The Big Reset. In his interview Cibis cleverly described the mass formation and seeing that ‘naked emperor’:

“My entire worldview has changed. I really feel like someone who has had magician’s tricks explained to them. Suddenly, you can’t not see them anymore. You always see that someone is manipulating you. The magic of the production has disappeared, but in its place has come the astonishment that the others don’t see the trick. Completely incomprehensible! And yet, I look at the magician again and again and think: Well, he’s not doing that so well. Not here and not there. You can see in several places that it’s all just a “PHEIC” (Public Health Emergency of International Concern). The whole spectacle is so fascinating because it works astonishingly well for long stretches. The audience is my object of fascination.” (My emphasis, again translation support via AI)

Cibis also described the unethical behavioural economics or ‘nudges’ that I’ve written about before; the prevalence of priming, product placement, subliminal messages.

Similar to the argument in Taplin’s book ‘Move Fast & Break Things’ about the music industry, Cibis explains how global corporations have taken over that ‘old-fashioned’ story-telling in authentic film-making. As Cibis succinctly puts it:

“The problem is monopolistic structures that function like public bodies but can fleece citizens behind the facade of private law.”

And it’s not just propagandised citizens that are ‘being fleeced’. Cibis himself was apparently scammed too, by an unexpected offer from a wealthy donor to upgrade crucial equipment, provide marketing plus a welcome interest-free ‘loan’ – as reporter Eugene Zentner explains:

“Most critics of the measures at the time were moving in an opaque fog of war, consisting of naivety, frustration, and euphoria. They grasped at every straw without seeing the dangers. The hope for an imminent end to the measures strengthened their trust in anyone who acted as a critic. When the wealthy major investor offered his financial support in the summer of 2020, Cibis also believed that their shared approach was proof that everything would go well.”

But, perhaps inevitably, everything did not go well. Things were not as they seemed. According to Cibis, the wealthy investor changed tack and became inexplicably evasive, blanking communications, deliberately skewed financial agreements and gaslit Cibis about meetings… Long and costly legal wranglings ensued which eventually resulted in one of Cibis’ film companies being bankrupted and the lien, four of the episodes’ IP, taken as collateral. (Could this be well-executed lawfare?)

Regarding these ‘acts of sabotage’, the good news is apparently the ‘stolen’ episodes eventually were distributed via The [German] Society of Physicians and Scientists for Health, Freedom, and Democracy (MWGFD). But there remains some anxiety about the context of the individual funder involved, as Zentner explains:

“What happened to the filmmaker has a method. It is called “black-shelfing”: books or films are bought up in order to prevent them from being made – or to change them so that explosive information does not surface.”

And indeed it looks like those episodes have been hidden from public view. Cibis says that since this traumatic experience, he has put jigsaw pieces together to learn more what happened. But the wealthy investor’s name, Marcel Jahnke, and his associated media companies and rather unusual various ‘non-profit’ entities, remains veiled in mystery. Jahnke has appeared on some podcasts, including this one with Carl Zha when TNT Radio was still operating (another rabbit hole). But intriguingly, Zentner says “The major investor is like a ghost, a vast mirage, possibly even a staged conspiracy by the secret services.”

This final quote prompts me to share this article by Miri AF about Andy Wakefield, not because I entirely agree with the contents, but it is certainly noetic about controlled opposition, propaganda and IPT in this new era of lawfare. Here is a screenshot of Wakefield’s film, Protocol 7 – note the executive co-producer:

Something tells me there’s more to this story than meets the eye? But the warning to us all is clear: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is! And the strategic manipulation of our IP via AI is only going to make our situation more difficult to untangle. Who can we trust?

Republished with permission from the author’s Substack.