Quoted in the March THE Journal article “Do the (Copy)right Thing,” Maria Kardick, a Pennsylvania librarian and ReadWriteThink author, explains, “Educators feel no one will sue them because they work for a school and they are exempt.”
I’m sure Kardick is correct. There are cases where teachers and administrators assume that they are exempt, but even the THE Journal article suggests that the underlying reasons for the violations are more complicated. Carol Simpson, who has written a series of books on copyright issues, shares this example in the article:
A school district in Texas purchased a single copy of a high-stakes assessment workbook for each grade level, then sent the copies to the district print shop. The print shop duplicated a copy for each student in the district. The copyright owner found out, and sued the district, alleging $7 million in damages.Why did that school violate copyright? They were trying to raise test scores. Even Simpson admits in the article, “There is immense pressure on administrators to maintain or raise test scores. If that means pirating test workbooks, then that's what they're going to do.” As Simpson explains, these educators “feel like the ends justify the means.”
What troubles me in all this is that the blame falls on the teachers and administrators rather than where it belongs. If schools received adequate funding, educators could acquire copies of these texts legally. Why is the problem seen as educators disregarding the law instead of as local, state, and federal governments providing inadequate educational resources for students?
The THE Journal article contends with its title that educators should “Do the (Copy)right Thing.” By ignoring copyright regulations, teachers and administrators do the wrong thing, which “sends a terrible message to students.” It’s not that I disagree. Protecting intellectual property rights is important. I’m just not sure which is the worst message to send—it’s okay to copy these texts, or we can’t afford to let you read them.
