04.05When professors attack …
Wired reports on a professor who’s suing one of those companies that repackages and sells student notes, claiming the notes themselves infringe on the professor’s copyrighted lectures. Note that the professor is not claiming that students who take notes are infringing–that, his lawyer very reasonably points out, is certainly fair use.
University of Florida professor Michael Moulton objects (well, and his e-textbook publisher, Faulkner Press, objects) to the fact that note-takers for the company called Einstein’s Notes would come to his classes and, when Professor Moulton would write down the bullet points of his lecture on a transparency projected to the class, the note-takers would write down those bullet points as well, and then work them into the notes that they advertised as a surefire way to get a good grade in Moulton’s class. That seems to be a valid claim, considering that it doesn’t sound like Prof. Moulton is switching things up a whole lot. (Oh, tenure. The right to give the same brilliant lecture for 10 or 15 years … it never gets old, right?)
Here are the two more interesting (or fury-inducing, depending on how you view it) elements of attorney James Sullivan’s arguments to Wired. First: Sullivan says that the act of writing the bullet points of the lecture onto the transparency during class creates a copyright on those bullet points–even if they are not the actual, literal substance of the lectures. The lectures have, apparently, been both published and copyrighted. Also, Sullivan claims that even if a student came to class and didn’t write down anything verbatim from either the lecture or the bullet points, then either sold or published those notes online, the notes would be considered derivative works and would be potentially infringing.
Sadly, the act of writing down the bullet points, according to the oddities of U.S. copyright law, probably does affix a copyright to them, and sadly, this case may indeed have some merit since the note-takers for Einstein’s Notes are indeed profiting from derivatives of Moulton’s work.
Obviously, Faulkner Press isn’t trying to end the practice of selling notes or study guides to students. They simply want to be the only ones to profit from selling Professor Moulton’s notes. It’s possible that the good professor himself might be a little offended at the degree to which students will go to both avoid class and also get a passing grade, which might have inspired him to jump on board with this lawsuit in the first place. But this is the type of irresponsible wielding of copyright law that creates even more outrageous precedent: Wired notes that, “[t]he suit could also have ramifications for more longstanding businesses such as Cliffs Notes, which summarize copyrighted novels.” If Cliffs Notes go just so that Faulkner Press and Moulton can keep their side revenues intact, what will happen to the very fabric of university education!?
Mostly, it’s just sad to see this type of ownership ethos extend into academia. Professors are proud and forced to “publish or die,” publishers are looking for ways to keep their revenue streams intact in the face of online study groups (which make note-sharing an even easier affair), not to mention textbook recycling or even pirating, and ultimately, materials that were created for the noble purpose of educating the young minds of America become stuck in a petty tug-of-war over who “owned” the thoughts in the first place. Some lesson.
(Thanks to zefyr for sending this one in.)
Well, you know: This kind of stuff is sort of cheating. I mean, if you get class notes from a friend that’s one thing, but there’s a whole industry surrounding ways for students not to do any real work. Whether it be essay services, or this kind of thing, students have become adept at not doing what they need to do. We call someone who graduates from Medical School with a C average a doctor, but what if he got that grade by never going to class? I know I’m exaggerating a tad, but certainly there has to be some way to limit this. As much as I hate to admit it, I’m kind of behind this professor.
April 6th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Someone on Twitter mentioned this practice as being kind of slimy, as well, and I pointed out (as I should have in the original post) that these packaged notes can often be a huge boon for sick or disabled students. And then I actually got an email from someone with cerebral palsy who said he relies on buying notes because he can’t write or type fast enough to keep up in class.
I think this is an important point to consider, since we’re often talking about unintended consequences. Are sick and disabled students the primary buyers of Einstein’s Notes? Clearly, no. But we should consider all the trickle-down consequences when we say the professor should be able to limit distribution of notes on his lectures to one authorized source. Especially if that source, due to the added cost of paying royalties and the added temptation of driving away all other competition, decides to jack up prices to a prohibitive degree.
April 6th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
Selling a professor’s notes without his/her permission feels pretty slimy to me. It seems like a big shortcut for the students buying the notes, since taking and organizing notes is part of the learning process. Not only that, but (hopefully) the professor puts a lot of time and work into creating class notes. It doesn’t seem fair that someone else should be able to just take them and profit from them. If someone wants to create an Economics 101 (or whatever) study guide, they should do the research and writing themselves rather than just packaging those taken from the professor.
I don’t think that the argument that these notes help disabled students quite fits here. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires colleges to provide accommodations to students with disabilities. If a student whose disability prevents them from being able to take notes themselves, they have to be provided notes somehow. This can be through a student note-taker, copies of the professors notes, copies of transparencies used in class, etc.
April 9th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Ok, first things first…
I am going to request that the word “slimy” stop being used. I understand that this is an issue where we all have our opinions, but I do think the word slimy is justifiable in this case.
Now, before I go any further, I should in all fairness tell you, that I was the one who wrote Molly the email about using the notes. (So we all know where I stand in the issue) However, I would like to respond to Geekadoo’s comment.
Your right in saying that the majority of students with disabilities get some sort of assistance from the ADA or the school itself, but there is something, in my opinion, your not accounting for. The first of which is, you may have a little bit of overconfidence in the ADA or school paperwork. From personal experience: I have had an IEP (Individualized Education Program) from my very first day of school, and it isn’t half of what it should be. Granted, this could be just my personal experience, but it has happened to me time and time again. I ask for something, I.E. a note taker, and it could take weeks or even months to get things in place… if it happens at all… Now I am not going to say the system has failed me, because that is an entirely different rant altogether. But, the truth is, my experience with schooling has not been one without obstacles. Knowing this, meant I have had no choice but to look at alternative ways to get what I need to ensure that I am a successful student. Buying notes, is a “safety net” for me… But, I can certainly see your point of view.
P.S. Sorry for the mini-rant…
April 14th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Hey Molly,
I can comment on this from the other side of the podium. (That said I hate podia…). I podcast all of my lectures and post my powerpoints/keynotes and release it all under a creative commons license.
That said, if someone came in to my class and sold the notes, that would violate our academic misconduct policies here at our school.
I can also say that in canada disabled students get not takers that are free of charge. I have no idea how it works in the US.
Dave
April 15th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Oh, I should also point out that it takes about five years to get tenure. An academic’s probationary period is not like 90 days. This allows me to research controversial topics, or, for example, to do research on video gaming, which some of my colleagues may find frivolous (n00bs). In my experience, most tenured professors (disclaimer, of which I am one) work hard because we like our work, care about our students and want to discover stuff.
April 15th, 2008 at 7:47 pm