Case+02+-+Mr.+Cider's+English+Software

Mr. Cider is a British Literature teacher who teachers an advanced class. There is an excellent piece of software, "Saxon Warriors," that allows the students to work independently in engaging work on a literary period that is usually not covered well by the textbooks. The software is expensive, however, retailing for $245 for a single use and over one thousand dollars for a lab pack. Although Mr. Cider teaches in a poor school, his classroom has a fully-functioning networked computer lab. Aside from textbooks, he gets a $1500 a year budget. This money goes to supplies, paper, dictionaries, ink cartridges, and other resources to make the class a rich experience for his students. Even after he spends the $1500, he still spends hundreds of dollars of his own money on supplies. Although he senses that it is illegal to load "Saxon Warriors" on every computer in his lab, he feels that it is ethically right to give the students the best education he can. One lab is not going to hurt a huge corporation an they would never risk the publicity of suing an inner city teacher trying to help his students.

Commentary

This is not Fair Use. We can focus on the effects to the potential market and the nature of the work. Since this software was specifically designed for educational use, and copying of the software would inhibit the sales of its intended use, it does not fall into the Fair Use category and is a violation of copyright. Similarly, if a teacher Xeroxes pages from a workbook that was intended for multiple purchases, there is a violation of Fair Use. You are hurting the sales of the company.