Re: copyright incidents on the nets

Kathy Temples writes:
>
> A somewhat tangential question related to this discussion involves the
> problem of transmitting student writing over the net. Some nets have
> been used to distribute suspected plagiarized papers, in the hopes
> that other scholars will recognize the plagiarized material and save
> the professor time searching for them in the library.
>
> Some people have asserted that the students papers are not
> "intellectual property," raising some interesting questions about what
> they are asking their students to produce. Another question that's
> been raised is that of "waiver" or "warning." In other words, can the
> student be asked to waive his/her right to object to the distribution
> of his papers on the list?

I have this problem because I project portions of student papers on to a screen to discuss in detail student's drafts of legislation, contracts, and arugments. I begin in my intellectual property class asking whether I have violated the copyright statutue or some other right. I suspect that fair use protects me under copyright and some notion of implied consent probably protects against an invasion of the student's privacy. If I were to send a paper over the internet with the suggestion that I'm trying to discover plagiarism I would be troubled not so much by copyright as by tort liability. I think students should be able to waive the right to the distribution of their paper on a list - though I'm always concerned about some court striking down the waiver on grounds of unequal bargaining power in cases where the student was embarassed or libeled. In summary I would never publish a student paper under any circumstances without a written consent.

  Don Berman --  

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