University Daily Kansan / Friday, January 27, 1980
Campus/Area
3
Note service may be violating copyright laws
by Mario Talkington
Kansan staff writer
Class Notes, the corporation founded this semester to buy and sell students' class notes, may be in violation of copyright laws regardless of whether they seek instructors' permission to sell them, a KU law professor said yesterday.
A spokesman for the business said yesterday that he had explored the possibility of obtaining non-profit status to avoid the need to get permission.
"This business sounds like it's headed for certain bankruptcy and legal problems," said Dario Robertson, associate professor of law. "No matter what they do, it looks like they're in violation of copyright laws." I think this (corporation) is blatantly illegal."
Class Notes pays students enrolled in large lecture classes the cost of the course in exchange for typewritten copies of their notes.
Mark Erwin, a former Great Bend graduate student, and Jim Rudolph, Lawrence graduate student, decided last week that they would be the instructor's permission to operate the business.
David Shulenburger, associate vice
chancellor for academic affairs, said he issued a memo last week to instructors informing them that their lectures were their property and that the sale of notes without their permission would be a violation of University code.
Hives. Use Marino, associate general counsel, also said that copyright laws allowed instructors to decide whether to authorize reproduction of their lectures for profit.
Robertson, who has practiced copyright law privately, said that even with the instructor's permission, Class Notes still could be headed for legal trouble.
Fair Use doctrine
When an instructor compiles a lecture, some of the material may come from copyrighted sources, he said. Such use is protected by the Fair Use doctrine.
However, Robertson said that if the instructor then granted the permission to sell students' notes of his lecture, the instructor could be in violation of copyright laws.
"Potentially, the professor could be in trouble," he said. "He might inadvertently
give permission to use lecture notes that include copyrighted materials.
include copyright. Robertson said students who sold notes could also be in violation of the law if the lecture included copyrighted material.
"It's going to be a problem for the University, the students, the professor and the corporation. They could all be sued for civil damages. There could also be criminal (charges). This is a bad idea that just won't fly." Robertson said.
Non-profit a possibility
One of the owners of the corporation apparently is considering changing the status of Class Notes to non-profit.
Rudolph, co-owner of the corporation's
farm with Erwin, yesterday issued
the following:
"Since KU is less than half the size of Ohio State (where a similar business operates), the professor approval system utilized there would not be profitable here. However, a Kansas City copyright attorney has indicated that Class Notes may withstand any copyright challenge if reorganized as a non-profit
organization."
Rudolph refused to comment on whether the business would continue as a-for-profit corporation. He also refused to comment on how many professors had given the corporation permission to buy and sell students' notes of their lectures.
Erwin could not be reached for comment. Robertson said that even if Class Notes changed to a non-profit corporation, the business would probably still violate copyright laws if it did not get instructors' permission.
'Fairly transparent ploy'
"They could make themselves look more palatable to a court if they say. 'But we're not for profit,' he said. "But a court will view that as a fairly transparent play. A non-profit company can profit as a for-profit business. You can pay the directors very lucrative salaries.
"If they make it a non-profit organization, they'll have a stronger argument that it's a fair use, but in my opinion, it's not strong enough. The primary purpose here is for them to
make money, regardless of whether the structure is non-profit."
Robertson said that the corporation did have one possible way of trying to operate the business without getting instructors' approval. Because copyright laws protect the expression of an idea, not the idea itself, the corporation could extract the basic ideas of the lecture and arrange them in a completely different way, he said.
However, Robertson said, if there were similar words or a similar order of ideas, the court probably would find the corporation to be in violation of copyright laws.
Shulenburger said he did not know what action, if any, the University would take if the corporation switched to non-profit status to avoid getting instructors' permission.
"What's important here is that the University is providing a limited right for the students to take the notes for the purpose of getting an education." Shulenburger said. "They (Class Notes) are using the material for something other than what it was intended for."
Paula Hofaker/KANSAN
By his command
ABOVE: Maj. Gen. Robert E. Wagner prepares to give a command briefing to the Army ROTC cadets at the Military Science building. RIGHT: After watching a Ranger Challenge Team demonstration, Wagner asks each soldier about his field of study. The Ranger Challenge Team is an Army ROTC varsity sport involving soldier skills competition with other universities in the Midwest region. Wagner is the commanding general of the U.S. Army ROTC.
No more penny-ante parking downtown Meters' rate increase brings complaints from customers
by Carrie Harper Kansan staff writer
They say time is money, and the price just went up.
Visitors parking in downtown Lawrence now must pay 20 cents for an hour, or 25 cents for 90 minutes, since the 60-minute parking meters were replaced with 90-minute meters early in January.
The old meters charged 1 cent for six minutes, 5 cents for 30 minutes and 10 cents for one hour. The new meters do not accept pennies.
"Even in 1956 or 1938, one-penny parking meters were obeyed," said Lt. David Cobb of the Community Services division of the Lawrence
Police Department. "This is the first time, that I know of, that there has been an increase.
City employees replaced an internal mechanism in the existing parking meters or installed new time-check meters. Cobb said. With the new meters, a person has to turn the knob to see how much parking time is left. The old meters had arrows for that purpose.
The new appearance has flustered many shoppers and sent them complaining to downtown retailers.
"The only thing people tell us is that they can't drive around anymore and see where there is time left," said Ralph Wilper, manager of The
Fields Store, 712 Massachusetts St. "And that it costs so much."
"I was getting four and five tickets a day," she said. "They don't have adequate parking for the people who work here."
Monica kicked, manager at Taco John's, 1006 Massachusetts St., said that she was angry about the lack of parking for her employees and that the new meters really didn't make a difference.
Kent Smaller, chairman of the Downtown Lawrence Parking Committee, said he recognized that downtown workers had parking troubles.
Last May, a parking consultant evaluated downtown parking. The
consultant presented a report to the Downtown Lawrence Association, now called Downtown Lawrence, a Kansas Corporation, which said that downtown parking was inadequate for employees and shoppers.
In a similar study in 1981, a report indicated that 1 hour and 10 minutes was the average amount of time shoppers spent downtown.
shipped meers were only an hour, people were bound to get a ticket," Smaller said.
Both Downtown Lawrence and the Parking Committee requested that the city commission approve change in parking rates, each, along with the rate increase.
said Carolyn Church, director of the Lawrence Main Street Program.
One reason for the cost increase was to make up for an expected loss of revenue from parking tickets. Fewer parking tickets are expected because of the longer parking times available.
availmable The parking meter fund must be used to pay off the bonds that were issued in 1979 to construct the two-hour parking lots downtown, Church said.
Short-term meters will remain in needed areas, including the Post Office, 645 Vermont St., and the Lawrence Arts Center, 9th and Vermont streets, Smaller said.
Council OKs discontinuance of Personnel
by Thom Clark Kansan staff writer
Because of a lack of departmental interest and limited financial support, University Council voted last night to recommend discontinuation of the Personnel Administration program.
The council's recommendation will be forwarded to Del Brinkman, vice chancellor for academic affairs, who will then make his recommendation to Chancellor Gene A. Budig for his approval.
The departments of political science, psychology, sociology and communication studies have been offered by the personnel administration program
James Drury, professor of political science, has been teaching classes required for the major for the past 25 years.
He said the council's decision would not affect the students who are currently enrolled in the program.
"The present students have no interest," Drury said "It is the future students that can't speak for them who are affected most by the decision."
Dryr said a grandfather clause in the proposal had protected the students currently enrolled in the major from being forced out of the program.
Marlene Oswald, Lawrence senior, said she had chosen the program as a means to further her abilities in management.
"I think it is a valuable program." Oswald said. "I have seen many people become successful through this program."
Howard Baumgartel, professor of psychology, said the shortage of financial resources had forced the decision.
The council passed, 12-11, an additional amendment giving the administration the opportunity to re-establish the program on proper counsel from students, faculty and the University Council if sufficient funds were allocated through the Margin of Excellence.
James Murr, Overland Park graduate student in political science, proposed the amendment. He voted for a proposal to discontinue the program