Educational publisher file class action suit for copyright infringement.

Inside of Durham Copy, free lollipops are offered to customers on the counter. The store smells like ink and the glossy pages of a new textbook. Above one of the photocopiers, a green sign shows a computer image of a man in a business suit who has his head resting on the copier. It advertises copying your head for five cents a page. On a wall, two bright orange posters list the copy packets available for the fall semester. Over 80 were on the lists as of Thursday afternoon. The shop seems like a regular, small-town business complete with free candy and quirky signs. But between the fine print, a more serious matter is happening than meets the eye.

The owner of Durham Copy, Ron Gary, is currently being sued by a group of publishing companies and researchers for copyright infringement. The five groups, American Psychological Association, Elsevier Limited, Pearson Education, Inc., Sage Publications, Inc., and John Wiley & Sons, Inc., allege that Durham Copy has failed to get copyright permission for course packets. The plaintiffs have counted at least 25 examples, according to a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court.

The lawsuit is being coordinated by a non-profit organization called the Copyright Clearance Center, which is a group that helps many businesses and schools obtain copyright permission.

"Society as a whole benefits when copyright law is respected," said Lisa

M. Stapleton, vice president in marketing at Copyright Clearance Center, in an e-mail.

"Unfortunately, in some cases legal action is required to protect the works of copyright holders and ensure a level playing field for that majority of businesses that adhere to copyright law," Stapleton said. "Our hope is that Durham Copy will adopt compliant business practices going forward."

Gary has until Nov. 29 to answer the complaint, according to the clerk's office at the United States' District Court for the District of New Hampshire.

Both Gary and his lawyer, Edward Maggio, declined to comment at this time.

A Professor's View

One of the professors whose course packet was included in the examples of packets Gary did not get approved is Ben Harris, a professor in the psychology department. Despite the controversy surrounding the store, he continues to support the business and had a course packet made up for his fall class. Harris is a fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA), one of the plaintiffs involved in the case, and he believes in supporting Durham Copy.

"I'm a fellow of the APA and I think they should spend their time doing something better than suing a mom and pop place in Durham, N.H.," Harris said.

Harris explained that if he wants students to read an article that he wrote, each student has to pay the APA a dollar or two to read a copy of the article.

"Journal publishers want to make money, and sometimes that restricts the circulation of ideas to students," Harris said.

Harris had no comment concerning the way Durham Copy had conducted business in the past, but he did say that this semester the store informed everyone that the store or the instructors had to get permission, and he chose to have the store get the copyright permission for the articles in his course packet.

"In my view, they're working very hard to bring themselves into compliance with the law," Harris said.

Legal Aspects

William Strong, a lawyer from Kotin, Crabtree & Strong, LLP, is representing the plaintiffs. In recent years, Strong has represented groups of publishers in between 10-15 complaints against copy shops. Strong said the lawsuit is being brought against Durham Copy to get "compensation for unlawful copying" and as a lesson for other people.

Durham Copy is not the only copy shop being scrutinized. According to Roy Kaufman, the legal director of one of the plaintiffs, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., the lawsuit is part of an effort to bring attention to copyright infringement on a national level. Similar lawsuits have been brought against copy shops in states such as California, Florida, Illinois and Texas.

"It's a real problem, and it's a problem throughout the country," Strong said. "We're doing everything we can through both education and litigation to stem the problem."

When a copy shop does get permission, usually the price increases on the packet to cover the copyright, according to Kaufman.

He explained that it's not just the publishing companies that are hurt if copy shops aren't in compliance. Since some people photocopy instead of paying for the actual books, book sales decline and authors could become reluctant to publish another one, "because they can't justify the time spent," said Kaufman. "It becomes a very vicious cycle."

Authors are supposed to get royalties for their work, but Harris said that publishing companies aren't always fair to the authors.

"There's a long history of university professors feeling as if some publishers are gouging the public, because if I publish an article I don't get any royalties, so in a sense I'm giving something for free to the publisher, which then the publisher resells...," Harris said. "But having said that, the APA doesn't gouge as much as some other publishers."

Copyright Laws at UNH

David Rohde, the director of Printing Services, sits comfortably in a chair in his office. With his pinstriped blue and white shirt and glasses, he looks the part of a businessman. In February, it will be 20 years that he has worked at UNH. Course packets have been made by Printing Services for the entire time he has been here.

Rohde says that the lawsuit against Durham Copy has not shown an increase in business for the MUB Copy Center. They produce between 80-100 course packets a semester.

"It could be that a lot of the course packs were in process before this board action was taken," Rohde said.

If a professor decides to not get the copyright permission themselves, Printing Services will go through the Copyright Clearance Center online, according to Rohde.

With more and more professors using Blackboard, Rohde sees a future in which very few course materials will be photocopied.

"Eventually it's all going to be digital," Rohde said.

Copyright laws still apply to documents posted on Blackboard, according to Terri Winters, the director of Academic Technology at UNH. Winters said they have a service the library performs, where they check the copyright permission for the faculty.

The law also applies to the library, according to Barbara Lerch, the loan librarian. She said that articles that are on reserve are covered by fair use. If articles that are copyrighted are on reserve, the library can either scan the articles electronically or photocopy them and put the articles in folders. If a professor wants to use the articles a second time after one semester, the library must ask permission from the Copyright Clearance Center and pay for it, according to Lerch. The students who photocopy articles on reserve do so for personal use.

"If we were to photocopy all of those things and hand them out to people we wouldn't be in compliance," Lerch said. "But we can provide access to it." Lerch said that there is a disclaimer posted on the photocopiers citing Law Title 17, which includes "the photocopy is not to be used for any purpose other than private study, scholar or research."

Several thousands of dollars for copyright funds are included in the library's line of acquistitions, according to Lerch. But the library pays a yearly fee for electronic databases and journals that covers the copyright in most cases

Lerch said that the lawsuit at Durham Copy has not affected the business at the reserves desk as much as they expected.

"Except for a couple of people who mentioned that if they continued to make packets they would have paid a lot of money for copyright," the reserves haven't increased, according to Lerch.