ISSUES IN SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATION

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April 20, 2006

Text Book Publishers Settle Law Suits Over Illegal Copying

Two publishing companies say they have settled six lawsuits they filed against people whom they accused of selling copies of instructors' manuals online. The manuals provided the answers to questions listed in college textbooks. A lawyer for the publishers said the lawsuits were the beginning of a crackdown on people who illegally sell copies of copyrighted materials to help college students cheat. Officials from Pearson Education and John Wiley & Sons, the two publishing companies, say they have each filed more than 20 lawsuits, in addition to the ones they just settled, against individuals selling the counterfeit books on the Internet. William Dunnegan, a lawyer representing both publishers, said the defendants in all the lawsuits got their hands on "instructor's solutions manuals," which are teaching guides published along with college textbooks. Only college instructors are supposed to have copies of the guides, he said, because they have answers to the homework questions included in the textbooks. After obtaining the manuals for more than 150 textbooks, Mr. Dunnegan said, the defendants made electronic copies of them and sold the counterfeits to students. The students could buy them online on sites called Homework Help Site and Alternative Book Store, targets of the recent lawsuits. More at Chronicle of Higher Education 4/20/06

Posted by P. Kaufman at April 20, 2006 7:42 AM