SUBJECT: Unauthorized Sale or Distribution of Course Materials

Are you concerned that notes taken during your course presentations are being sold or distributed for commercial purposes without your permission? Some of our colleagues have been, and mechanisms are now in place for faculty to register complaints.

The UCSD Policies and Procedures Applying to Student Activities was amended as of September 1, 2000 to include a provision in the Student Conduct Code which specifies that unauthorized commercial use of your lecture or course information is grounds for discipline. Specifically, Section 22.14.10.38 prohibits selling or distributing course notes, (whether taken by students or others) or information provided by an instructor such as, but not limited to handouts and readers, or using such materials for commercial purposes without the explicit permission of the instructor. The UCSD Student Conduct Code may be located at: http://ugr8.ucsd.edu/judicial/22_00.html.
This provision will also be published in the quarterly schedule of classes.

If you suspect a student of involvement in the selling or distribution of your course notes or course material in violation of the policy, you should contact the Director, Student Policies and Judicial Affairs at 534-6225 or JudicialAffairs@ucsd.edu.

If, on the other hand, you can provide evidence in support of the unauthorized commercial use of your lecture or course information by persons or entities other than a UCSD student, you should contact Campus Counsel at 822-1236 or aparode@ucsd.edu. Evidence of unauthorized commercial use may include a snapshot printout that includes the URL of an Internet vendor posting notes or other materials from your courses.

It is our hope that these steps will discourage, if not eliminate, the unauthorized use of your course material. We wish to express our gratitude to the Office of Student Policies and Judicial Affairs and the Office of Campus Counsel for their assistance in addressing this issue.

                                                Douglas Magde, Chair
                                                Academic Senate, San Diego Division