Publishers Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press and SAGE Publications, supported by the Association of American Publishers (AAP), have filed a lawsuit in the Atlanta federal court to stop widespread copyright infringement at Georgia State University (GSU).
The publishers have charged GSU officials for violating the law by systematically enabling professors to provide students with digital copies of copyrighted course readings published by the plaintiffs and several other publishers without authorisation. The lawsuit, which seeks injunctive relief to bring an end to such practices, does not seek monetary damages. It asserts 'pervasive, flagrant, and ongoing' unauthorised distribution of copyrighted materials, despite attempts to reach an amicable and mutually acceptable solution without the need for litigation.
GSU distributes the unauthorised materials through its electronic course reserves service, its Blackboard/WebCT Vista electronic course management system, and its departmental web pages and hyperlinked online syllabi available on websites and computer servers controlled by GSU. The US copyright law applies to digital course offerings as it does to paper offerings, and does not distinguish between different methods of distribution. While many U.S. colleges and universities work with university presses and other publishers to ensure their uses of published materials are in accordance with U.S. copyright law, the lawsuit states that GSU has flatly rebuffed efforts to reach similar agreements.
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