You are the CEO of Eastlane, Inc., a publicly traded, multinational publisher of

A Textbook Case of Charity

By Wendy Gelman, J.D., L.L.M.

You are the CEO of Eastlane, Inc., a publicly traded, multinational publisher of

educational textbooks for use in colleges and universities throughout the world.

Eastlane’s most popular and profitable textbook is Great American , written by

Dr. C.R. Breach, the preeminent authority in modern American writings. This text is

used in universities across the nation in heavily attended English literature survey

courses. The text sells new for $210 a copy and is only sold through university book

stores. Eastlane has a corporate policy to prohibit reselling of used texts and has thus far

avoided selling on Amazon and other online book retailers, in an effort to prop up the

price of their text.

It has come to your attention, that three professors at Humongous State University (HSU)

have established a program to assist financially strapped students. Upset about the high

cost and limited availability of Great American , these professors have scanned

the entire text and have set up a website where they have posted the copied text. Before

allowing a student access to the website, the student must demonstrate to the professors’

satisfaction their inability to pay full price for the text. The professors charge each

student $105 for access to the website.

Your general counsel has suggested that you bring a copyright infringement suit against

HSU, the 3 professors and against all students who have accessed their website. Your

management team has consulted with Dr. Breach and he is in favor of bringing the suit.

Your approval is needed to initiate the lawsuit.

Instructions:

1) Identify the ethical dilemmas

2) Evaluate how stakeholders would be affected by various solutions to your dilemma(s).

3) Discuss the pros and cons of alternative courses of action.

4) Recommend a decision.

5) Make sure to provide the rationale for your decision.