Court Enforces Protection for ACS' Standardized Chemistry Texts

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Date: Tue, 7 Jun 2005 14:33:10 -0400 (EDT)
From: Judah Ginsberg <J_ginsberg@acs.org>
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Court Enforces Protection for ACS' Standardized Chemistry Tests

The American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society, has
prevailed in a case involving an intentional breach of security and
copyright infringement with its standardized college chemistry
examinations. Yeshiva University and a former assistant professor at the
school agreed to and have been ordered to pay the ACS $50,000 for posting
two secured organic chemistry examinations on a Yeshiva Web site. The case
stems from the ACS Examinations Institute, a part of the ACS� Division of
Chemical Education, taking action to protect the security of the Society�s
Standardized Exams.

Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum of the U.S. District Court, Southern
District of New York, entered the Consent Judgment, on March 24, 2005.
Yeshiva and Wayne F.K. Schnatter admitted that the posting of the two
examinations, together with the answer sheets, constituted "apparent
copyright infringement."

The two ACS exams, the 1994 and 1998 organic chemistry exams, were scanned
and posted by Schnatter, then an assistant professor at Yeshiva, on his
faculty Web site. The ACS contended that grading for the examinations is
based on the premise that students have not seen the questions in advance.
While the exams were several years old, the exams were still in widespread
use at other colleges and universities around the country. In addition,
questions on the exams may be re-used at any time. Therefore, the ACS
asserted, the posting of the exams constituted a severe security breach,
rendering them no longer usable as standardized tests. Judge Cedarbaum
entered an order "in favor of ACS and against YU and Schnatter" and
"further ordered that YU and Schnatter will submit to an injunction
prohibiting future infringement of any examination owned by ACS."

The Examinations Institute was forced to replace the two secured exams at
over 120 colleges and universities across the country. In its legal
filings, the Institute sought damages for the cost of this replacement
program, expenses associated with the accelerated production of a new
Organic Exam, produced in 2004, as well as other expenses associated with
this security breach.

Professor Thomas Holme, Director of the Institute notes: "The use of ACS
Exams as part of the assessment of student learning in chemistry classes
has a tradition that reaches back over 70 years. The Institute must be
ready to take the appropriate steps to assure that the materials we create
continue to provide high quality and secure assessment when an instructor
chooses to use them in his or her courses."

A Consent Judgment is a legal instrument for civil cases that establishes
the facts of the case, which in this circumstance include an admission by
Yeshiva University that the posting of the examinations constituted an
apparent copyright infringement and breach of the security pledge
associated with the purchase of Exams Institute materials. Professors must
consent to the security pledge before the Exams Institute will fulfill
orders for assessment materials.

The Exams Institute was represented by the firm of Finnegan, Henderson,
Farabow, Garrett and Dunner, LLP, of Washington, DC, a leading firm for
Intellectual Property cases.

The Exams Institute published its first exam in 1934 as the "Cooperative
Chemistry Exam" Today it creates exams for courses in High School
Chemistry, General Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Organic Chemistry,
Physical Chemistry, Biochemistry and Inorganic Chemistry. The Institute is
located on the campus of the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, in
Milwaukee, Wisc.

The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization, chartered by
the U.S. Congress, with a multidisciplinary membership of more than
158,000 chemists and chemical engineers. It publishes numerous scientific
journals and databases, convenes major research conferences and provides
educational, science policy and career programs in chemistry. Its main
offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

# # #

Contact:  Dr. Thomas Holme
414-229-3970 
tholme@uwm.edu

Judah Ginsberg
202-872-4400
j_ginsberg@acs.org