Judge Issues Order Indicating that Plaintiffs' Copyright Infringement Claims Against iParadigms Will Be Dismissed

OAKLAND, Calif., Feb. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- A United States District Court judge in Virginia has issued an order indicating that a motion for summary judgment filed by iParadigms seeking dismissal of plaintiffs' copyright infringement claims will be granted and thereby removed the action from his trial calendar. iParadigms is the creator of the Turnitin(R) Plagiarism Detection Service.

"This is a just and proper decision based on the law," says Andrew Smiley, a prominent New York trial attorney and frequent legal commentator.

The action in Virginia was instituted by four high school students who had allegedly submitted papers to Turnitin, which is licensed and approved by plaintiffs' school districts. The students claimed that their intellectual property rights were being violated because papers submitted to Turnitin are incorporated into the Turnitin database to prevent future collusion. iParadigms' motion for summary judgment sought dismissal of plaintiffs' claims based on both their agreement to a contract that precluded the relief they were seeking and based on the fair use defense under the Copyright Act. 17 U.S.C. Section 107.

"We are very pleased that the judge will dismiss all claims in this case as it reconfirms our belief that Turnitin is a powerful educational tool," states Dr. John Barrie, creator of Turnitin. "Turnitin protects both student and commercial copyright holders by assuring their work is properly referenced. It is important to note that Turnitin is now being used by millions of academics, in 103 countries, to rapidly grade and peer review student work -- online and paperless."

Turnitin is used by millions of faculty and students in over 8,000 schools to check student work for originality and to teach proper citation skills. Turnitin works by comparing student papers to its copy of the Internet, millions of books, newspapers, journal and magazine articles, and over 50,000,000 student papers previously submitted to Turnitin. Instructors receive an Originality Report documenting every unoriginal phrase or paragraph within a student paper. Teachers save time and increase efficiency by using Turnitin to flag potential problems prior to grading.

The largest independent study of cheating and plagiarism found that approximately 77% of students admitted to cheating on academic assignments. Schools using Turnitin for 5+ years observed levels of unoriginality decrease by about 82%. More than 95% of Turnitin's clients renew each year, and its usage is doubling every 12 months.

Turnitin has become part of how education works and provides a valued service to administrators, teachers and students.

The case is A.V. et. al v. iParadigms, LLC, No.07-293 (E.D. Va. 2007).

About Turnitin.com

iParadigms, LLC (http://www.iparadigms.com) is the leading provider of web-based solutions to check documents for originality, plagiarism, and for misappropriation. The company's products include: Turnitin(R), an internet service used in over 100 countries to vet work for originality, enable web-based peer review, and provide cutting-edge tools for digital grading of student work. iParadigms is headquartered in Oakland, CA