A California professor suing his students who recirculated his exams plans to issue a subpoena to identify the perpetrators.
Attorney Marc Hankin, who is representing David Berokvitz, a business professor at Chapman University, said on March 15 that the professor will subpoena resource-sharing website Course Hero as part of the lawsuit in an effort to release the names of and IP addresses associated with the students responsible for posting the documents, according to the Orange County Register.
“The midterm exam and final exam were accessible only to students who were then enrolled in Berkovitz’s Business 215 Class in the Spring Semester at Chapman University,” the lawsuit said, according to the outlet. “Defendants knew or should have known that their acts constituted copyright infringement.”
PROFESSOR SUES COLLEGE AFTER TERMINATION FOR BASHING MIKE PENCE ON TWITTER
The students who posted the exams “infringed Berkovitz’s exclusive right to reproduce, make copies, distribute, or create derivative works by publishing the midterm exam and final exam on the Course Hero website without Berkovitz’s permission,” the professor claimed in the lawsuit, which was filed with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
“The moral and ethical failing notwithstanding, the real concern is these students are hurting their fellow classmates,” Marc Hankin, the attorney for Berkovitz said, referring to the business school’s reliance on grading curves.
Berkovitz came across material in January from a midterm and final exam from his Business 215 course, Hankin said. The two exams were copyrighted, and they were only accessible to students who were enrolled in the course, the filing said.
After discovering the material on Course Hero, Berkovitz filed an application with the U.S. Copyright Office on Feb. 25, according to the lawsuit.
But when Berkovitz asked for the identities of the people who uploaded the documents, Course Hero said a subpoena would be needed, Hankin said.
“Our response is always in keeping with the law, so if they produce a subpoena, we will help them with their investigation,” Sean Morris, the vice president of academics for Course Hero, told the New York Times.
“Course Hero never wants unauthorized content on our site, and before students and educators upload their content, they must agree to our terms of use and academic honor code, which explicitly states they may only upload content they have the right to upload,” the company added.
If Berkovitz’s lawsuit is successful, the professor intends to turn the names over to the university honor board, Hankin said.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Additionally, the lawsuit seeks damages and monetary compensation for lawyer fees, though Hankin said Berkovitz was “certainly not in this for the money” and would consider dropping the lawsuit if the students’ names were revealed.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Berkovitz’s attorney, Course Hero, and Chapman University but did not receive responses back.
