Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Mississippi

Re: Is it legal for someone to submit a term paper that the author did not appro

Absent contrary agreement by the author, it violates her copyright in her work to copy it in any form. I suggest that the first inquiry be made of her teacher to see whether copies of term papers are routinely destroyed or retained -- the teacher likely will be far more upset than your wife if the internet posting is happening without permission. A letter to the owners of the Web site would likely be sufficient to have your wife's work removed.

Best wishes,

LDWG

Re: Is it legal for someone to submit a term paper that the author did not appro

I agree with the previous reply, but two notes: you definitely want to write the letter and attorney letterhead works wonders. You can probably get someone to do it for less than $50, and then follow up on it yourself. Give a deadline. That being said, realize that they can simply take the ideas from the paper, re-write it and put it back on-line without any problem. Getting them to take it down solves the problem of your wife's name being on it, nothing more. A class could probably be certified, but do you really want to sue what is probably an empty shell of a company on behalf of all people whose term papers are illegally posted? Sounds like fun, but no more than that, unless there are deep pockets.