Chapman University professor sues students after finding exams online

An Orange County professor is suing his college students for copyright infringement after discovering parts of his exams on an internet site used for sharing examine supplies.

The lawsuit was filed Friday on behalf of Chapman College Assistant Professor David A. Berkovitz, who’s demanding a jury trial for the 5 unnamed defendants. KTLA was offered a replica of the lawsuit by Berkovitz’s lawyer, Marc Hankin.

In line with the grievance, Berkovitz in January 2022 discovered parts of a midterm and remaining examination he created for his spring 2021 enterprise course on Course Hero, an internet site the place college students can entry examine supplies for particular faculties and programs.

A few month later, Berkovitz submitted copyright functions for these midterm and remaining exams and was granted the copyright registrations on Feb. 25, 2022, in line with the lawsuit.

Now, Berkovitz alleges the defendants infringed on his unique proper to breed, make copies, distribute, or create spinoff works when the exams have been printed on Course Hero on or earlier than Feb. 23, 2022, with out his permission.

His legal professional, Hankin, additionally brings up that it’s unfair to classmates who didn’t entry Course Hero for the exams.

“Not solely is it unethical and a violation of the dignity code, however extra importantly the enterprise regulation programs are graded on a curve. So if a number of college students artificially inflates their very own grade, they’re artificially suppressing the grades of their classmates who labored laborious, studied laborious, and are doing their very own work,” Hankin informed KTLA in an interview.

On the time of the submitting, the grievance stated Berkovitz doesn’t but know the identities of the defendants – however he says solely the scholars enrolled in his spring 2021 Enterprise 215 course at Chapman College would have had entry to the precise exams discovered on Course Hero.

The grievance stated will probably be amended when Berkovitz finds out the defendants’ names and roles within the alleged infringement.

Within the lawsuit, the assistant professor is requesting a everlasting injunction – which means he desires a courtroom order that forestalls the defendants and different members from straight or not directly infringing the copyrights for the midterm and remaining exams.

He additionally requests an order of impoundment on all gadgets that maintain copies of the copyrighted exams throughout the defendants’ possession, custody and management.

As well as, Berkovitz is requesting: “an award of precise damages and earnings; an award of statutory damages for willful infringement; an award of attorneys’ charges; prejudgment curiosity; prices of the go well with; and any and all further reduction that the Court docket could deem simply and correct.”

Verify again for extra particulars on this growing story.