Brianna Lammers

Mr. Rudy Rico

Case Study #1
Scenario 5
In my scenario, Dan uploaded a copy of a textbook to the internet for his students to use
because his school was facing budget cuts. The school had already purchased these books, but
they did not have enough left for everyone to use. I believe that this is not a clear cut situation.
It falls in the hazy area between copyright infringement and fair use.
From a strict law perspective, Dan has violated copyright laws and is therefore subject to
copyright infringement penalties. Fair use states that only 10 percent of a work can be uploaded
for classroom use. Dan uploaded the whole textbook. This puts him at fault. Along with that,
Dan could get in trouble for affecting future sales of the textbook. Dan could also potentially
face consequences for putting the article on the internet as well.
However, looking at the situation from a teacher perspective, Dan could potentially be
covered under fair use. Since he is using the uploaded file for educational purposes, the rules
change. Dan did not upload a copy of the textbook to the internet so that everyone could see it.
He did it strictly only for his class to use. He also was not doing this act to gain a profit but to
guide students in learning.
This whole situation could be a moot point if the textbook was copyrighted under
Creative Commons. Creative Commons allows people to share creativity that protects ones
ideas from things that one does not give consent to. Even if the textbook was copyrighted under
all of the possible stipulations that Creative Commons offers, Dan would be in the clear. Dan
was not using the textbook to make money and he was not altering anything that was in the
textbook. All Dan would have to do is acknowledge the author and share the information under
the same stipulations that the textbook was originally shared under.
After evaluating both sides of this scenario, I have come to the conclusion that there is no
set in stone answer for this scenario. This one falls in that broad line between copyright and fair
use.