Substitute Teachers: Are Beantown Notes and similar companies literally stealing the words right out of professors' mouths?

Deliberation over the legality of music file sharing has recently dominated both television and print media. Yet another debate over copyright infringement has also arisen, and it is beginning to hit close to home. Across the United States, small companies are giving college students the opportunity to obtain class notes for a price through the Internet.

Located on Boston University's (BU) South Campus, Beantown Notes is one such service. It offers specific class notes for 26 BU courses and is continuing to add more as the fall semester progresses. Although no knowledge of such a service at Tufts exists, the fact that professional note-taking companies have reached nearby campuses raises ethical questions for all universities.

The professional note-takers deny that the service is a violation of intellectual property rights, pointing out that as long as their employees do not submit a professor's lecture word for word, the notes are mere student interpretations of a class. In that case, the copyright may belong to the note-taker, but the laws are not explicit in this matter.

"Often, and I'm hardly alone, I am working out in the classroom setting views and angles on the material that are to make their way into print," Professor of Philosophy Dr. Jody Azzouni said. "I assume that even if I wasn't intending to print such things, that for someone else to make a profit of them would be such a violation."

These companies obtain their materials by hiring other students enrolled in the course to take notes, which are then edited for grammar and spelling mistakes, and sold. Note-takers are selected after an application process that examines their class notes, their grade point average, and their transcript. A student with comprehensive and accurate notes will be hired to cover the class for a semester. Back up note-takers, however, are also selected to ensure that an employee will attend each lecture.

Freshman Heather Roughton was surprised to learn of the proliferation of commercial note-taking services. "As far as the morality issue goes, I think that selling the notes without the approval of the professor is wrong and they should have the discretion over where their lectures are distributed," Roughton said. "The professors, I believe, have a right to be upset over these services, as it is their work that is being used by someone else to make a profit."

Some professors are less concerned with the moral aspect than with the true value of the notes provided by such a service. How useful are another student's interpretations of a lecture? Professors fear they may be misquoted, thus providing students with an inaccurate representation of the class.

"My concern is not so much with the morality of the service, but rather with the possibility of being misrepresented," Assistant Professor of Philosophy Nancy Bauer explained. "I would not want my name to be associated with something I did not really say."

"It would be hard to know whether or not to trust the quality of the notes," Roughton pointed out. "Depending on who the note-taker was, they may have had a different perception of what was important, or may have missed a key point during the lecture."

Junior Deanna Rodriguez agreed. "The way I might describe a concept isn't exactly the way someone else might," she said. "Each person learns differently."

For this reason, many believe that notes are not enough to succeed in a course, and that it is essential for students to attend class and hear lectures and discussions firsthand.

Bauer does not feel that notes in general are sufficient to receive the full breadth of her course. "I frequently tell my students to stop taking notes and think," she said. "Notes never serve as anything other than reminders. If you are not there to hear the words behind the reminders, the notes are useless. Students cannot understand someone else's notes."

"Though some lectures can be boring, I think it is the professor and student interaction that helps you learn the most," Rodriguez said. "The professor might use certain examples or perform an experiment in the classroom that can visually help you understand the concept. Reading someone else's notes describing the experiment really doesn't capture the full essence of what was done."

Beantown Notes provides a disclaimer on the bottom of every page of notes stating that, far from trying to undermine professors, the notes simply "constitute as a supplemental study guide, not a substitute for reading text material and attending class."

Senior Taiwo Oshodi also believes that it is "important to attend class even if you already have notes because the notes might not cover everything. Writing your own notes helps with the learning process," he said. "You are able to retain the information better."

Nadia Medina, Tufts Academic Resource Center's Director, concurred. "Students learn something by being in class, where they can ask questions and interact. Lecture notes do not convey the sense of class at all. I cannot imagine anything substituting going to class."

Aside from the ethical queries that arise from the actions of these companies, many are uncertain of the need for note-taking services in the first place.

Medina cannot understand the essentiality of Beantown Notes. "If someone was sick or injured and had to miss a class, I would imagine he could get the notes from a friend or classmate. So I don't really see who it would benefit."

"I can't say that I would [use such a service] because my professors usually post their notes online, so there wouldn't be a need to. I don't really see a use for the service, because most people are willing to lend their lecture notes if you miss a class, so why pay for the service when they're so readily available?" Roughton agreed.

So while the legality of professional note-taking services is being debated by university administrations and lawmakers, so is the practicality of such companies.

"These services are suggesting that whatever is being taught in class can be conveyed through notes, and that is false," Bauer said.