Wait a minute! ALL Federal Government documents are freely distributable aren't
they. What about State Government documents? Aren't documents created at taxpayer
expense, public documents? Admittedly he should reveal the source and probably
should have asked permission, and the fact that he passed it off as his own shows
some character traits. But State legislatures 'borrow' from each other all the time
(most likely with permission). When does a school district document become public
domain, if ever?
"Peter G. Mohn, LMS" wrote:
> Any document created by an individual or group is automatically copyrighted.
> You don't have to "officially" have it copyrighted to control your own work.
> If the other district actually created this program from scratch and your
> district wanted to use it then your district needs to get permission from
> that district. At the very least, this administrator should have a letter
> of reprimand placed in his file for this offense and for trying to take
> credit for another person's work. I wouldn't be surprised if this
> administrator's career in your district has been damaged by his actions.
>
> The school board may want to sweep this incident under the rug. But if the
> district administration tries to bring back this program in the next few
> months, then the union may wish to remind the board that this program is
> copyrighted and they need to get permission to use it in your district.
> Otherwise, someone in your district just may have to turn them in for a
> copyright violation and then the board is at risk of being named and held
> responsible for any damages in a lawsuit.
>
> Good luck.
>
> --
> Peter G. Mohn, LMS
> Snohomish Freshman Campus
> Snohomish, WA
> pmohn2001@earthlink.net
>
> "You live and learn. Or you don't live long." -- Heinlein
>
> On 5/25/04 4:57 PM, "Shelley Skaar" <skaars@EASTMONT206.ORG> wrote:
>
> > We have a situation of great concern in our district right now. Please
> > read the following and send me any comments you feel appropriate.
> > Obviously, I would especially appreciate anything concrete that you can
> > provide. I can see that our districts response to this situation can
> > lead to serious ramifications in the future.
> >
> > The situation:
> >
> > A main district administrator "wrote" a plan for our district...to
> > improve student learning. He did not request any input from anyone in
> > our district, and the plan would significantly alter the way we do
> > business here. According to his plan, he prepared it "on behalf of the
> > students of ... District." When asked where he got the ideas and
> > information, he indicated that he wrote it without input from anyone.
> > Through a google search, we discovered that he plagiiarized a report
> > from another district (from another state) and simply changed the name
> > of the other district with ours. At most, he added a few pages of his
> > own and left off a few pages of the original work. At no time did he
> > cite the original work. This plan was quite significant in
> > size--between 35 and 50 pages (I don't have it here in front of me.)
> >
> > Our teacher union brought this to the attention of the superintendent
> > and the school board. The response the union received was that the
> > administrator had done nothing wrong because it was not a copyrighted
> > report. The plan, however, was tabled.
> >
> > We, of course, are shocked and disgusted with this response.
> > Thanks
> >
> >
> >
> > Shelley Skaar
> > skaars@eastmont206.com
> > Library Media Specialist
> > Eastmont Junior High
> > 905 N.E. 8th Street
> > East Wentachee, WA 98802
> > web page:
> > http://www.eastmont206.com/ejhs/html/library/EJHS%20Library%20Web%20Page/ejhs_
> > library.htm
> >
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--
Dennis Hollingsead
Administrative Assistant to VP for Academic Administration
Andrews University
Berrien Springs, MI 49104
269-471-3404
Graduate Student
Minnesota State University, Mankato
hollings@andrews.edu
Feedback For Improvement:
1. Tell what could have been done better.
2. Explain your reasons why.
3. Provide suggestions on how to improve.
From: "Heroz" by William C. Byham & Jeff Cox; Harmony Books, NY; 1994 p, 104.
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