A Professor Who Has Problems With a Company That Profits From His Lectures

LINKED IN WITH... Michael P. Moulton, who wants to shut down a company that sells students’ notes from his lectures.

Mr. Moulton, an associate professor of wildlife ecology and conservation at the University of Florida, is part of a legal battle against Einstein’s Notes, a company that sells students study kits and lecture notes for his classes. His publisher brought a copyright suit against the company.

Q. What’s wrong with a company’s selling lecture notes taken by students in your classes?

A. It wasn’t just the notes. They were selling answers to my study questions for the exam. It used to be that students had to find the answers themselves, the old-fashioned way. Now they can pay to not go to class. The students are the ones who suffer, even if they think getting an easy A is not suffering. What bothers me the most is sometimes the notes will get things wrong. I’ve had students bring me the notes when I mark something wrong on their exam, saying I should count questions correct because that’s what Einstein’s Notes said.

Q. Do students who buy the study kits have an advantage?

A. They’re at a huge advantage. My grades have gone up, and it’s because a lot of students buy those notes. They’ve created a culture where students believe that if they don’t buy them, they’re not doing everything they can to get an A, and if they don’t keep their grades up, they might lose their scholarship.

Q. Isn’t it reasonable for students to want to do well?

A. I’m not marking them down for this. It’s just tough love maybe. I want them to do some hard work to earn their grades.

Q. What kind of other study resources can students use?

A. I post the audio of my lectures online for free. I’m going to start posting a skeleton of the notes on the Web site, too. I’m going to stop giving out study questions though. If they don’t want to come to class I can’t make them come, but I’ll be damned if I help [Einstein’s Notes] sell answers to questions if they don’t want to come.

Q. I understand that you’ve registered a copyright for your lecture notes. Why?

A. There had been a lawsuit here years ago against another note-selling company, and it came out favorably for the people selling the notes. I thought if I copyrighted my notes, I’d have a stronger hand of cards to play.

Q. Einstein’s Notes is accused of copying parts of the textbook you wrote for this course and selling the material on index cards. Is that affecting your sales?

A. I don’t know. This has nothing to do with money. It has everything to do with not following the rules.

http://chronicle.com Section: Information Technology Volume 54, Issue 37, Page A11