I would tend to agree with the analysis below. Since apparently there is
nothing in the software license to prohibit sharing the tests (watch for
that to appear in future updates since this very public discussion has
brought that issue to the fore) and the minimal factual content
contained within a test would certainly qualify for a fair use defense,
I can't see that RL has a significant claim on the tests. Yes, your
creating the tests would potentially damage their market for future
tests they might create (why buy theirs when you have already created
your own?) but I believe it was pointed out that the program can only
contain 500 teacher-made tests, thereby limiting the impact of a group
of tests.
Naturally I must add that I'm not an attorney and this is not a legal
opinoin. However one LM_NET member posted the initial query to
CNI-COPYRIGHT so I will be interested to hear what they say about the
issue.
Carol Simpson, Ed.D.
Asst. Professor - School of Library & Information Sciences
University of North Texas
PO Box 311068
Denton, TX 76203
940-565-3776 (voice)
940-565-3101 (fax)
csimpson@lis.admin.unt.edu
>>> Gail Smith <ladyhunsdon@EARTHLINK.NET> 03/18/02 08:08AM >>>
Cheryl King wrote:
> I would rather someone like Carol Simpson weigh in on the issue of
> making tests for AR, etc., but my thought is that it would be a
> copyright violation because only the copyright holder has the right
> to make a derivative work and reap the profit from it --i.e.
> questions based on a book would be a derivative work.
>
I would also like to hear from an expert on copyright since a test, or
any
other activity we make related to a book has never been what I thought
was a
derivative work. If indeed it is a derivative, then most everything we
do
would in some way be a copyright violation.
As far as Renaissance Learning goes, I did check my manual, as it was
suggested that they might claim ownership of any tests entered into
Accelerated Reader. I find nothing of that sort anywhere in the
documentation. I just don't see how they can claim copyright violation
in
any way, since even if it is some sort of derivative, it can only be
a
derivative of the book, not of Accelerated Reader. They cannot claim
intellectual property rights on the format of a multiple choice test,
or
even a computerized multiple choice test, both of which existed long
before
they did.
It sounds to me as if they are just using copyright as a ploy, knowing
that
librarians as a group tend to respect copyright, rather than just
telling us
that they don't want us to damage their profit structure. I don't know
for
sure what the legalities of selling tests would be, but I cannot see
how it
could violate anything (except corporate profits) if we were to share
tests
at no charge.
--
Gail Smith, Librarian and Technology Coordinator
Edison Regional Gifted Center, Chicago
gsmith@edison.cps.k12.il.us
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