LifeWise curriculum now available online, but with a catch

To see previous coverage of the LifeWise copyright lawsuit surrounding its curriculum, visit the view player above.

HILLIARD, Ohio ( WCMH ) – After public pressure, licensing agreement complications and a lawsuit against an Indiana man, Christian education center LifeWise has made its curriculum available online.

“Great news!” LifeWise Academy posted on Facebook on Saturday. “Our curriculum is now available to be reviewed online. We value your interest and feedback and have found a solution that respects our licensing agreement while allowing private online review of our elementary curriculum.”

Anyone can request the curriculum after providing their information and promising not to distribute the material. Once approved, applicants receive a link to a Google document that is valid for 48 hours.

The curriculum includes elementary school lesson plans for grades one through five, and the first year of middle school. It also includes combined lessons for middle schoolers. The rest of the middle school lessons and high school lessons are borrowed from other companies, so they are not included outside of links to purchase the materials through external sources.

“In response to recent requests to review the LifeWise curriculum, our team has developed a way to privately and temporarily share the files for review without violating our licensing agreement with the publisher,” LifeWise CEO Joel Penton said. “We believe in transparency and have always encouraged families and communities to learn more about LifeWise and the positive impact of Bible-based character education.”

The announcement follows a lawsuit filed earlier in July against an Indiana parent and founder of the group Parents Against LifeWise. LifeWise is suing Zachary Parrish for copyright infringement after he published its curriculum online.

The lawsuit generated interest in why the curriculum could not be shared. LifeWise leaders told NBC4 the privacy was due to a licensing agreement with another company, Lifeway Christian Resources, which created the Gospel Project – the materials LifeWise’s curriculum is based on.

“The Gospel Project lesson content and Bible passages remain unchanged in the LifeWise curriculum, while the language and organization of the lessons have been adjusted to present concepts in ways that public school students can easily understand,” LifeWise’s website states. “Character qualities and LifeWise branding have also been added to the original lessons.”

LifeWise pays Lifeway an annual licensing fee based on total student enrollment and agrees to limited distribution terms. In exchange, the agreement allows LifeWise to independently copyright its curriculum and other materials, which it did in 2019.

Penton said the newly available materials will not affect the lawsuit against Parrish.

“Parrish posted the materials publicly to be downloaded and replicated, which violates our licensing agreement and infringes on our copyright,” Penton said.

In a previous interview with NBC4, Parrish said he accessed the documents legally and published them to provide information to parents interested in LifeWise. The lawsuit is ongoing.

NBC4 received access to the curriculum upon request; however, it is unable to report on anything included in the curriculum because of the requirement to sign an agreement not to distribute the information. Anyone is able to apply to view the curriculum on LifeWise’s webs ite in the “curriculum” tab within the “about” drop-down menu.

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