Aliment Case Study

In this case a school created a website for formal students to keep in contact with the school. The school called their site Alumnet. One day the school received a cease and desist letter stating that the copyright holder’s rights were being compromised for using the Alumnet name. The question to look at is if this was an actual copyright issue or not.

First, the school believes that they actually had the name before any copyright holder had it. If the school can prove this then the copyright holder has no case. The copyright holder would have to prove that he or she came up with the name before the school began using the name for their site. If the school has evidence of when they created their site, then this would be an easy case to prove.

Secondly, the school was using this name as something specifically related to their school. They came up with a creative name for their website, and it is not bringing harm to the copyright holder’s marketability. The school is using this site to keep people connected to it. This does not effect the copyright holder.

Another issue is that the school can use the name Alumnet through the fair use act. This is an educational purpose. The school created the idea behind the site. The school did not just take this name from the copyright holder to use for the original purpose of the name. The site was used as a specific tool for this specific school.

The school is not making any kind of profit from using the name Alumnet. They are not violating copyright laws by naming their site Alumnet. The school should not be afraid of the cease and desist letter. Oftentimes those are used as a scare tactic, but they are not actually breaking copyright law.