Sometimes there’s a fine line between “disruptive innovation” and “copyright violation.”

Today’s guest pushed pretty hard on that line.

Ariel Diaz is a serial entrepreneur who has co-founded companies in video education, B2B SaaS, and Health and Wellness. But he joined us to discuss his digital textbook company, Boundless Learning, which was at the center of a firestorm about copyright in the early 2010s.

Boundless Learning built a business that undercut the college textbook market by providing open source equivalents at much lower prices. They were sued by three major textbook publishers in a case that had the potential to reshape the interpretation of US copyright law through a court decision.

The publishers’ side of this story is widely available online and we recommend reading those links in the episode notes to round out your opinion of what happened. Our purpose at Ways We Learn is not to present Ariel’s view as fact, or to choose sides.

But today you get a very special Ways We Learn, Legal Edition: Boundless’ CEO, Ariel Diaz, shares his side of the story.

Contents:

• 04:35 The Genesis of Boundless Learning
• 07:04 Building the First Prototype
• 10:19 Challenges and Reactions
• 13:04 Marketing Strategy and Legal Issues
• 24:40 The Lawsuit
• 27:43 Copyright and Trademark Disputes
• 30:37 Settlement
• 37:50 Evolution
• 42:56 Acquisition
• 44:23 Legacy and Impact on the Textbook Market

Links and further reading:

• Ariel’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arieldiaz/
• Chart of textbook prices: https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/chart-of-the-day-or-century-5/

Links and further reading:

• Ariel’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arieldiaz/
• Chart of textbook prices: https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/chart-of-the-day-or-century-5/
• The complaint: https://www.insidehighered.com/sites/default/files/files/boundlesslearninglawsuit.pdf
• Motion to dismiss: https://casetext.com/case/pearson-educ-inc-v-boundless-learning-inc
• Docket report: https://dockets.justia.com/docket/new-york/nysdce/1:2012cv01986/393501
• Publishers Sue As Boundless Learning Grabs $8M (TechCrunch): https://techcrunch.com/2012/04/05/publishers-sue-as-boundless-nabs-8m/
• 4 Thoughts About Boundless, Publishers, and the Lawsuit (Inside Higher Ed): https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/4-thoughts-about-boundless-publishers-and-lawsuit