$7.8 Million Award to Excelsior - a Stern Reminder

Times Union: Letters to the Editor Arlen L. Olsen - Managing Partner in regard to the "$7.8 million for Excelsior in exam suit" (Dec. 19), I agree with the jury's award of substantial punitive damages. If the jury truly "was infuriated," as quoted in the story by Cathleen F. Crowley, then the suit appropriately underscored a basic tenet of copyright law -- it is wrong to steal. While the total award of damages does seem somewhat "mind-boggling," as also quoted in the story, it is important to note that the majority of the award ($4.6 million) went to compensate the copyright holder for stolen revenues, production costs and loss of proprietary information. The taking of that $4.6 million, through blatant copying and profiteering, is akin to stealing from a farmer who has diligently planted, nurtured and harvested a crop. It is wrong for the thief to then sell the stolen crop thereby prohibiting the farmer from getting any compensation for his labors. In addition to being ordered to make monetary compensation for the stolen crop, the thief also likely would receive a criminal punishment such as incarceration or probation. In many foreign countries this is the case. Similarly, a person who knowingly copies and profits from another person's copyright protected work should expect, under the laws of a civilized society, to face not only compensatory but also punitive liability for his actions. Such is the case with the defendant in the recent Excelsior exam suit. Hundreds of test questions and study tips, even the wrong answers and decoys as the article points out, were substantially copied. But it wasn't merely the copying that merited the severe civil punishment by the jury. Rather, it was the willful pandering of Excelsior's work. The defendant went so far as to submit Excelsior's study guides as its own curriculum. The substantial punitive damages awarded in the Excelsior exam suit sternly reprimanded the defendant and called the public's attention to the fact that thieving copyrighted material is impermissible. And, just as a harsh criminal punishment is typically levied upon a calculating and malevolent crop thief, the damages awarded in the Excelsior exam suit are the jury's way of reminding us (to the tune of $3.2 million) of a basic precept of copyright law. ARLEN L. OLSEN Copyright Attorney Schmeiser, Olsen & Watts LLP Latham need a loan fast with bad credit bad credit personal loans for