If you’re a pupil at Erasmus College Rotterdam (EUR) then your entry to Studocu, a student-to-student knowledge-sharing platform utilized by over 50 million college students worldwide, might quickly be in jeopardy.
The EUR has filed a lawsuit in opposition to Studeersnel B.V., which additionally operates beneath the identify Studocu outdoors of the Netherlands, for copyright infringement. The lawsuit is expounded to a devoted web site referred to as Studeersnel.nl operated by Studeersnel B.V., on which the startup makes academic supplies accessible to college students, which is utilized by over 80 % of the Dutch pupil inhabitants.
The college named after Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a Fifteenth-century humanist and theologian, alleges the web site hosts syllabi, assignments, apply or previous exams and different academic supplies created by workers of EUR wherein the college owns the copyright.
Whereas Studocu dismisses the declare, the lawsuit might have critical implications not just for the scholars of Erasmus College Rotterdam but in addition for college kids at different universities world wide. As a platform utilized by over 50 million college students worldwide, how the court docket decides on copyright infringement might change how examine supplies are accessed and distributed on-line by college students.
Studocu: what you want to know
Studocu was based by 4 college students throughout their research on the Delft College of Expertise in 2013. They discovered there was an inequitable distribution of examine supplies, which they argue correlated to the “social standing” of scholars. The co-founders say that college students who had been members of excellent associations and lived in related college students’ homes had entry to apply supplies the place different college students didn’t.
Whereas they discovered this to be the case with Delft, in addition they discovered the issue to be world the place some college students had entry to raised apply or examine supplies than others. Their answer turned Studocu, a platform that provides entry to the perfect instruments to check extra effectively with pupil note-sharing.
“From all of the tens of millions of examine supplies on Studocu, roughly 85 % is freely accessible to anybody,” says Reynald Fasciaux, Chief Government Officer at Studocu. He provides, “The opposite 15 % is labelled as premium, however could be accessed without cost as nicely, by merely importing a doc to the group. College students who don’t wish to add will pay a small charge to entry the 15 %. Studocu does this to cowl the prices of internet hosting the content material for college kids”
In less complicated phrases, Studocu is a platform that enables college students on the College of Leiden to entry examine supplies from the College of Amsterdam. Whereas the concept is for college kids to share their examine supplies and notes, the kind of materials uploaded to the platform has advanced vastly because it was first based.
Even professors at reputed universities have now come to make use of the platform to share their lecture notes. Nonetheless, not each tutorial is on board with the concept of a platform like Studocu that’s house to check supplies. One of many largest grievances in opposition to Studocu has been these from teachers who’ve discovered their educating supplies on the platform with out their consent.
Fasciaux cites Article 9 of its Phrases of Service the place the platform discourages college students and customers from importing content material that’s in breach of copyright, infringes on IP, is discriminating or offensive, or doesn’t assist the aim of the platform.
“In emails to customers, we clarify that we don’t enable for previous exams or infringing content material to be uploaded to the web site,” Fasciaux tells me.
Platform versus the college
In its lawsuit, Erasmus College Rotterdam argues that it owns the copyright of supplies generated by its professors and that the content material shouldn’t be hosted on the Studocu web site. By supplies, the college is referring to sure syllabi, apply or previous exams, assignments, and workbooks.
“EUR asks the court docket to find out whether or not Studeersnel B.V. infringes the copyright of EUR and asks for Studeersnel B.V. to take sure particular and proportional measures to forestall and discourage copyright infringements relating to academic supplies created by workers of EUR happening on its web site,” a spokesperson for the college mentioned in an electronic mail assertion.
“As it’s customary in The Netherlands to not touch upon or share authorized paperwork of a pending court docket case, EUR has no additional feedback or data to share presently,” the spokesperson added.
The lawsuit by EUR in opposition to Studocu is harking back to those filed by information media in opposition to Fb. It’s a typical case of a legacy organisation taking over a new-age expertise platform.
Whereas the lawsuit may need its deserves, Studocu claims that Erasmus will not be solely asking the platform to take down infringing supplies but in addition going above and past what’s legally required of it as a internet hosting supplier beneath the Digital Providers Act.
“We take down infringing materials after receiving a discover of infringement,” says Fasciaux. “This Discover-and-Takedown is what all platform suppliers are required to do in keeping with the DSA.”
He says EUR is asking Studocu to proactively monitor the platform and argues that the end result would successfully imply that Studocu “has to filter and block all supplies uploaded by college students at Erasmus.”
“Thus far, we acted on all of their discover and takedown requests from Erasmus promptly and faraway from the platform the allegedly infringing content material that surfaced to us,” Fasciaux says, earlier than including, “We had been fairly shocked once we acquired the official authorized case.”
As a internet hosting supplier, Studocu additionally claims to do its finest to guard the IP of copyright holders and doesn’t agree with the declare of Erasmus College Rotterdam. The startup argues that they takedown content material through their NTD course of inside 24 hours and claims to have indemnity beneath the Digital Providers Act, an EU-wide laws that governs internet hosting suppliers like Studocu or YouTube.
Bigger implication
In its lawsuit, Erasmus claims that it has a copyright to the examine supplies created by its professors. With the professors being paid by tax {dollars}, that declare might come into competition. Fasciaux calls the entire scenario convoluted however reiterates that summaries and lecture notes created by college students from professors’ lectures are authorized.
“We even have many professors who voluntarily add their supplies to the platform, and if the supplies are their copyright, they’d have the suitable to do that and blocking this is able to be in violation of their copyright,” he notes.
The case is presently not public and the scholars don’t appear to concentrate on the lawsuit. The College Council, which represents the scholars and workers members of EUR on a central degree, didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Erasmus desires Studocu to proactively monitor its platform and take down any paperwork which will originate from Erasmus professors. Fasciaux tells me the one method they will do that is by stopping Studocu for college kids at Erasmus College. “College students from Erasmus could be the one college students within the Netherlands not in a position to make use of supplies from fellow college students by Studocu,” he provides.
When this case comes earlier than a choose, there are implications not just for a platform and one of many biggest universities within the Netherlands but in addition for tens of millions of scholars who depend on Studocu for high quality examine supplies. Studocu’s authorized defence will hinge on indemnity provided as a part of DSA whereas EUR will argue its copyright to supplies produced by professors on its payroll. Many college students, I imagine, shall be watching nervously since their entry to check supplies is on the road.