Using Turn-It-In (TII) with D2L Dropboxes
D2L drop boxes can now be used with Turnitin software to automatically check for originality
and possible cases of academic misconduct. What follows is a summary of privacy and
copyright issues. Scroll down to read the full statements from the U.S. Department of
Education and U.S. courts.
FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act)
Instructors have two ways of using TII with D2L dropboxes that comply with U.S. Department of
Education FERPA requirements:
1. Obtain written consent from all your students to use D2L drop boxes with TII; or
2. Advise all your students that you are using TII with the dropboxes, but they have the
right to remove all personal identifiers before uploading files to the dropbox. (See the
suggested syllabus statement below.)
It is up to the instructor to make students aware that TII software is in use and to advise the students of
the privacy options available to them under FERPA. If the student is not concerned with privacy issues,
the student can voluntarily upload files with identifiers (e.g., their name).
COPYRIGHT
Courts have determined that TII does not violate copyright laws under “fair use,” including the provision
of a “substantial public benefit.” Students retain copyright to their papers.
SUGGESTED SYLLABUS STATEMENT FOR USING TII WITH D2L DROPBOXES
Please modify this statement to suit your own needs or situation, or compose your own altogether.
This course uses a web-based service, Turn-It-In, with D2L dropboxes to reveal plagiarism and academic
misconduct (http://www.uwstout.edu/lit/services/instructional/tools/turnitin.cfm). All files uploaded to
the course D2L dropboxes will be submitted to Turn-It-In. To preserve their privacy, all students have
the right to remove their name from papers before uploading to a drop box. In addition to using Turn-ItIn, the professor will use other standard verification methods if necessary to uphold standards of
academic integrity, e.g., on-line searches, meeting with the student and verbal verification of the ideas
in the file). If you have any questions about academic misconduct, please review Stout's policy in your
orientation materials or at http://www.uwstout.edu/services/dean/studentconduct/index.cfm. If you
have questions about academic integrity, please visit Stout's Center for Applied Ethics
at www.uwstout.edu/ethicscenter
SOURCES
U.S. Department Dept of Education TII Statement
http://umbc.edu/ogc/docs/Turnitin%20Letter%20FERPA%20by%20Dept%20of%20Ed.pdf
"There is no exception to the written consent requirement in FERPA that allows an educational agency or
institution to disclose education records, or personally identifiable information from a student's education records
to a third party, such as Turnitin, to check for plagiarism.
….
"However, an educational agency or institution may release education records from which all personally
identifiable information has been removed, without prior written, consent, because that is not considered a
"disclosure" under FERPA. "Personally identifiable information" includes the student's or family member's name;
address; personal identifier, such as the student's social security number or student number; and a list of personal
characteristics or other information that would make the student's identity easily traceable. 34 CFR § 99.3
("personally identifiable information").
….
"Finally, nothing in FERPA prevents a student from disclosing his or her own written work to a plagiarism prevent
service on a voluntary basis."
TII Copyright Statement
http://turnitin.com/en_us/about-us/privacy-center/copyright-protection
"Students who submit papers to Turnitin retain the copyright to the work they created. A copy of submitted papers
is retained in a Turnitin database archive to be compared with future submissions…. A U.S. District Court judge
ruled that archiving student papers to assess originality of newly-submitted papers constitutes a fair use under the
U.S. Copyright Act, provides 'a substantial public benefit' and helps protect the papers from being exploited by
others."
U.S. District Court Ruling
http://pages.turnitin.com/rs/iparadigms/images/Court_Opinion_on_Turnitin_031108_US_District_Court.pdf
TII can use student essays without violating their copyright protection because it is “fair use” as defined in four
specific ways.
1) TII is “transformative,” i.e., it uses the files digitally for comparison, not for expressive or creative
purpose, and “its use of the student works adds ‘a further purpose or different character’ to the works
… and provides a substantial public benefit through the network of educational institutions using
Turnitin;”
2) Students’ creative expression is protected: “iParadigms' use protects the creativity and originality of
student works by detecting any efforts at plagiarism by other students;”
3) Although the entire work is used, it is for comparison only: “the use of the original works is limited in
purpose and scope;”
4) Students retain marketability of their work “Here, it is clear that iParadigms' use of Plaintiffs' works
has caused no harm to the market value of those works.”
Affirmed by a U.S. Court of Appeals
http://pages.turnitin.com/rs/iparadigms/images/Court_Opinion_on_Turnitin_041609_US_Court_of_Appeals.pdf
The summary judgment was unanimously affirmed by a U.S. Court of Appeals.