‘I have to sue schools’

AN educational author said he is considering taking legal action against more than 80 schools over breaches of the Copyright Act by teachers and other school administrators. The author, Everett Fraser, said he has spent more than a decade gathering material to produce text and workbooks for students, spending millions of dollars to publish his work. However, he said he is not seeing the rewards of his labour as many teachers at several institutions are photocopying, scanning, or taking pictures of the entirety of his publications to share with their students instead of purchasing the material or adding it to the book list. An educator himself, Fraser said the revelation came through his own investigations at some institutions, and interactions with teachers who became hostile when confronted about their actions. He called a meeting with the Ministry of Education to discuss the matter, stressing the need for teachers to be sensitised. According to the Copyright Act of Jamaica, making unauthorised photocopies of entire books or substantial parts of them is illegal. While Section 59 of the Act states that copies of passages from published literary, dramatic or musical works can be made by or on behalf of an educational establishment for educational purposes, the law states that no more than five per cent of the material may be copied. However, Fraser said many educators are not aware of the law. “What I realise is that teachers are not aware of the Copyright Act, and when I tell the schools, it is a challenge; they are usually hostile. According to the Copyright Act, there are rules that govern how schools can use the material, and often, teachers, once they have purchased a book, they feel like they are entitled to do whatever they want with it, which is not the case,” said the frustrated author. Fraser said his published works cater to students at the early childhood level, with a focus on teaching them how to read. He added that he has also published textbooks and workbooks designed to prepare students for technical subjects, including industrial technology, at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) level. “You find cases where they are ‘reprographing’ the entire book, or they might scan the book and share it with students. When this is done, it affects me tremendously. I’ve spent millions of dollars and years of research, travelling to different countries to get material. I’ve volunteered to work in particular fields, and I’ve gone into schools to volunteer to work to get the experience to write these books. I even pay for students to do CSEC just to get people to learn, and I’m not making anything. It’s a real struggle,” he told the Jamaica Observer. “It is affecting me tremendously because what you find is that students do not buy books because they see that they can get the material for free, and those who buy the books, for example half of the class buys the books, you find that the teacher will take pictures or share it in their private WhatsApp groups or on their various school platforms,” he said.

A copy of a workbook published by Everett Fraser that is being reprographed by educators

The author said he understands that books can be expensive and that not every parent can afford to purchase a textbook or workbook for their child. In response, he said he heavily discounted the materials and even provided more than $80,000 worth of free copies to less fortunate students. However, those efforts have done little to address the problem. “I remember I went to this school to introduce a book to the students, and when I stepped into the class I realised that they were doing AutoCAD. I used a book I wrote to demonstrate some techniques, and I realised that the students knew every little. This book was being sold for $650; it was a massive reduction because the books were sitting there not selling, so I said, ‘Let me just sell them out cheap since they are not going,’ ” he recalled. “...After showing the students the books they said they wanted some to buy. I went outside to get some more books, and by the time I stepped back into the classroom the teacher allowed the students to have their phones out, taking pictures of my book,” he told the Observer. Fraser said at that same institution he had previously sent some books over to be sold that never were. He said further checks with a teacher at the institution revealed that the teacher had photocopied the entire book and was sharing it with students. “I really have to act. I have a list of about 80 schools that are reprographing my work. Some schools, I try to go in and talk to them and try to at least get some change but they are not listening,” he shared. “I love teaching, and I have a lot of knowledge. I want to give back what I have to education — and I think the way to give back to education is to share my knowledge with others by writing books — but it has reached a point now where I have decided that I’m going to have to sue schools. If I can’t make money from my work I have to sue schools and the ministry, because the ministry has failed its statutory duty to protect our intellectual property,” he reasoned. Fraser said the problem became so bad that he pulled his books from book stores. He said he also has more than 10 books he recently completed that he refuses to publish out of fear they will also be photocopied and shared illegally. “I think if authors were taking action we would see changes. I think we all have just accepted it, but I have decided that I am going to take action. If it means that I am only going to sell the books to 10 schools or parents, I am going to take action because this is damaging education,” he said.