Collegiate Copies faces suit

Students aren't the only ones who must adhere to honesty policies.\nCollegiate Copies, 1434 E. Third St., is the defendant in a case filed last week in the U.S. District Court in Indianapolis by five major publishing corporations. The corporations are suing Collegiate Copies and its owners for copyright infringement.\nHarperCollins Publishers, Pearson Education, Princeton University Press, Sage Publication and John Wiley & Sons have filed a lawsuit coordinated by Copyright Clearance Center. The companies allege that Collegiate Copies and its owners, Tom and John Seeber, failed to seek, "permission to reproduce the content either directly, or through Copyright Clearance Center," according to a Copyright Clearance Center press release.\nThe course packs in question for copyright infringement range from gender studies to folklore.\n"If what is alleged in the complaint is true, it doesn't seem likely they have any case and we have reason to believe that what they are alleging is true," said Frederic Haber, general counsel of Copyright Clearance Center.\nThe lawsuit is one of 18 that have been filed recently against companies across the nation who are not complying with copyright laws. \n"Lawsuits like these are the last resort in minimizing copyright infringement, yet we are willing to take this step when needed to protect our interests," said Roy Kaufman, associate general counsel of John Wiley & Sons, in the Copyright Clearance Center press release.\n"The reality is that these people are making substantial use of copyrighted material by doing so without authorization and doing so in ways that hurt both competitors and the copyright holders," Haber said. "The competitors who are complying with the laws are the ones being most directly hurt."\nEducational initiatives and online request forms have been publicized by publishing corporations to ensure that companies in the market of reprinting information for course packet and instructional use have access to the knowledge they need to protect their company from copyright infringement. Companies that disregard copyright laws are, "cutting out of business our customers who responsibly publish course packets by complying with the laws," Haber said.\nCollegiate Copies has 20 days to answer the plaintiffs' suit or ask for an extension. When asked about what proceedings the company plans to take, Tom Seeder declined to respond. \n"Collegiate Copies wants to continue working with these publishers to provide student resources while protecting author's rights," the company said in a statement.\nHaber said the owners of Collegiate Copies could face a $1,000 infringement charge or imprisonment.\n"My guess is that the defendant doesn't really have any case to make," Haber said. "Once they convince themselves of that, they'll settle"