Houston Chronicle by Jacob Carpenter May 24, 2019
In the winter of 2013, when the principal of Houston ISD’s Westside High School suggested making copies of colorful study guides recently purchased from a small Austin-area company, an English teacher responded that there was a “glaring disclaimer about copyright†at the bottom of the documents.
The teacher suggested the guides, which cost nearly $2,000 total, should be handed out during class and picked up before the final bell. But when the school’s principal brushed aside the copyright concerns, the teacher fell in line.
“I’m ok with violating it though…lol,†the teacher wrote in an email, according to a lawsuit.
The guide’s creator, DynaStudy, got the last laugh on Thursday, when a federal jury awarded the company $9.2-million after finding dozens of HISD employees repeatedly violated federal copyright laws pertaining to the guides. Jurors sided with DynaStudy on all counts following a seven-day trial, validating allegations that HISD staffers cropped out the company’s logo, hid copyright violation warnings and widely distributed the manipulated study guides to colleagues throughout the district.
The verdict offered a resounding victory to DynaStudy, a 13-year-old company with two full-time employees that has sold educational products to more than 650 Texas districts. DynaStudy first raised potential copyright issues with HISD in 2012, filed its lawsuit in 2016, then spent three years in litigation with the state’s largest school district.
“DynaStudy is inspired to return its energy and resources back to its mission of ‘evening the learning field’ by getting effective learning tools into the hands of students in Houston and across Texas,†the company’s owner, Ellen Harris, wrote in an email. “This verdict both affirms copyright law and enables DynaStudy to reimagine the best possible business model to accomplish its mission.â€
More:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/education/article/Federal-jury-HISD-staff-repeatedly-violated-13895634.php
