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UA faculty, lawyer question legality of on-line note services

Students who can't make it to their 9 a.m. class may not have to worry as much, thanks to a developing trend on the Internet.

Several new Web sites are providing free lecture notes for most introductory level classes, such as Communication 100 and Theater Arts 101.

"We're introducing technology into the classroom," said Michael Krasman, vice president of product development and co-founder of Versity.com, a Web site offering class notes. "We call it well-balanced education."

But what Krasman calls well-balanced education, professors are calling illegal.

"It is a copyright infringement," said University of Arizona attorney Mike Proctor. "Clearly a professor has a copyright on their class materials...and the notes could be considered a derivative of the class material."

Several other professors agreed that the companies' actions are illegal.

"It's taking my mental knowledge and giving it out without compensating me" said Richard Metcalf, an accounting lecturer whose class notes used to be on Versity.com. "It's like taking something you've written and saying it's mine. It's unauthorized and unacceptable."

Another professor threatened legal action if lecture notes from her Accounting 200 class were not taken off the Versity.com Web site.

"I wrote them an e-mail and asked them not to put my lecture notes on their Web site," said Leslie Cohen, an accounting lecturer.

The notes were taken off the Web site a few weeks after Cohen's request.

Krasman defended the company, saying "the service is perfectly legal."

Aside from copyright infringement laws, some professors don't like the Web site because students may rely too heavily on the on-line notes rather than actual class lectures.

"I don't know that the notetakers are good" said Cohen, adding that she thinks Internet note services discourage classroom attendance. "It could be a disservice to students."

Krasman said "we encourage professors to get involved in what we're doing" to ensure the accuracy of notes.

Michael Dues, associate communication department head, said he has mixed feelings about Web sites like Versity.com and StudentU.com.

"If one is marketing...someone else's intellectual property, that's a rip-off," he said. "(But) some student need extra help. A lot of students could use a good set of notes."

While some students said they like the idea of having notes on the Web, they question their reliability.

"It is their (students) loss if they use it (a Web site) as a substitute for going to class," said Phil Fenberg, a biology junior. "You can't get everything off a computer. You get a lot more if you go to class."