The publishers allege that GSU’s hosting of over 6,700 works for 600 classes commits direct copyright infringement, due to the school officials directly uploading the material; contributory copyright infringement, due to inducing others to download, copy, and read the unlicensed material; and vicarious copyright infringement, due to profiting from the alleged illegal actions.The uploaded items range from 14 pages to a few hundred pages per course. In one instance, the publishers found an entire semester’s worth of readings—nearly 80 different uploads—for an Introduction to Anthropology class. Shortly after the complaint was filed, some of the online e-reserves required a GSU username and password; however, links to the e-reserves are still located on online syllabi and course websites.GSU rebutted the claims, saying it was protected by fair use and “sovereign state immunity,” a doctrine that generally protects states and their entities from being sued by citizens. Judge Orinda Evens agreed in part with the defense dismissing the direct and vicarious infringement claims. In the first instance, she concluded that none of the named defendants directly engaged in the infringement, while in the latter instance she found no evidence that GSU profited from the alleged uploading. Evens pointed to professors who claimed they only upload material if they believe students would not buy the text if it were assigned, and who say that professors would stop using the system if they had to pay licensing fees.

via Campus copyright: publishers sue over university “e-reserves”.