Who Owns Students’ Class Notes? California State University System Slaps NoteUtopia.com Entrepreneur with Cease and Desist Letter
Late last month the California State University Chancellor’s Office sent Ryan Stevens a cease and desist letter. The letter arrived just a few weeks after the launch of NoteUtopia.com. The site, which was first conceived of during an entrepreneurship class Stevens was enrolled in at California State University (CSU) Sacramento, provides a forum for students to buy and sell notes and other study materials for classes. It’s also intended to function as an online community – a place to network, discuss courses and rate professors.
The September 21 cease and desist letter penned by University Counsel Gale Baker indicated that the site violates a section of California’s state education code which prohibits students from selling or disseminating “academic presentations,” including class notes, for