| In a recent decision, A.V. v. iParadigms, Civ. Act.
No. 07-0293 E.D. Va., March 11, 2008, the U.S. District Court for the
Eastern District of Virginia held that the clickwrap agreement to which
the plaintiffs assented when submitting their papers to the
plagiarism-detecting program, "TurnItIn", was valid and enforceable,
despite the fact that the plaintiffs were minors at the time of
entering into such agreement. | ||
| TurnItIn
is a plagiarism detection program. Papers submitted through TurnItIn
are compared with other papers and sources found in the Turnitin.com
database, providing teachers with an assessment of the originality of
the submitted papers. Students using TurnItIn must sign a user
agreement pursuant to their use of the Website. Failure to consent to
this agreement will bar students from submitting their papers through
TurnItIn.com, which can compromise their chances of receiving a passing
grade. A number of Virginia and Arizona high school students filed suit against iParadigms, the provider of TurnItIn, claiming that the program infringes upon students' copyrights in their respective papers, and that the clickwrap agreement to which the students must consent as part of the registration process is invalid. While the copyright infringement question garnered prolific media attention, an equally relevant and less publicized legal question concerned the validity of the clickwrap agreement. With respect to this claim, the students claimed that the TurnItIn agreement was unenforceable in accordance with the Virginia law, which stipulates that a contract entered into by a minor is voidable once the minor reaches the age of majority. While the court did not contradict this doctrine, it nevertheless held that because the students derived benefits from the TurnItIn contract, they were also bound by its limitations and prohibitions. Received benefits cited by the court included the students' ability to receive grades from their teachers, thereby providing an opportunity to maintain good standing in their classes, as well as the students' ability to bring this lawsuit. | ||
LESSON LEARNED:
The way your website's terms and conditions are structured and accepted by any minors to your site is crucial to having them enforceable. The contract must be "complete" and both parties must fulfill their obligations in order for the terms to potentially be enforceable. Contact us for a review of your website's terms and conditions.
