This textbook is in the public domain and may be copied without permission

“This textbook is in the public domain and may be copied without permission”

In this age of intense patent and copyright protection, is it possible to imagine a statement like the one above? Well, wikipedia has shown that it is possible (though the license terms are slightly different). In the field of health and public health, it seems a little more improbable, but it is true. There is a text book, which is online, and it actually states the magic words “This textbook is in the public domain and may be copied without permission”.

The text book on “Public Health Management & Policy” has a history attached to it. Duncan Neuhauser, Ph.D., Professor of Health Management and Co-Director of Health Systems Management Centre at the Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio began teaching a course on “Public Health Policy and Management” (MPHP 439) as part of the new Master’s degree program in Public Health in the winter 2000 session. As part of the course, the students were required to write a chapter for the on-line textbook for the class, following standard publishing guidelines (no plagiarism, no quotations without permission, etc.). Subsequent batches wrote new chapters, edited old ones and rewrote some portions. Interestingly, many of the old students continue to edit their chapters. Today (Aug 2007), the online edition is in its Eighth Edition. It can be accessed at An On-Line Textbook on Public Health Management & Policy.

The website caught my eye, while reading The Journal of Health Administration Education, Vol 23 (1), Winter 2006. The article by Dr. Neuhauser is titled “A Student-Written, Faculty-Reviewed, Free, On-Line Textbook of Public Health Management and Policy.