McGraw Hill Education controversies
Controversies tied to this brand in public sources. A listing is not a finding of fault.
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2021
Publishers sue Shopify over alleged textbook piracy
Lawsuit filed
Five textbook publishers filed a lawsuit in a U.S. court accusing Shopify of allowing websites using its technology to reproduce and sell textbooks and other materials allegedly pirated or infringing the publishers' trademarks. The allegations are claims in the lawsuit, not a stated court determination.
Company response
Clarification — Shopify
Shopify spokeswoman Rebecca Feigelsohn said the company requires merchants to agree to its terms of service and acceptable use policy (AUP) before signing up.
Source excerpt
In a lawsuit filed in a U.S. court on Wednesday, the publishers allege the e-commerce company allows several websites using its technology to illegally reproduce and sell textbooks, test banks and other manuals that are identical or "substantially indistinguishable" from their products.
The five publishers making the accusations against the Ottawa-based technology company are Macmillan Learning, Cengage Learning Inc., Elsevier Inc., McGraw Hill LLC and Pearson Education Inc.
Shopify spokeswoman Rebecca Feigelsohn said the company requires merchants to agree to its terms of service and acceptable use policy (AUP) before signing up.
2020
Criticism of digital textbook pricing
During the COVID-19 shift to remote learning, McGraw Hill faced accusations that some electronic textbooks and access products were priced substantially above comparable print materials. The available reference material does not establish a final legal outcome.
2015
Criticism over textbook language about slavery
A geography textbook was criticized for describing enslaved African Americans as "workers." McGraw Hill apologized, changed the digital version, and offered schools replacement materials without charge.
1990
Dispute over James Baldwin advance
McGraw Hill sued the estate of writer and civil-rights activist James Baldwin to recover an advance for an unfinished memoir. The company later dropped the lawsuit, citing a desire not to cause additional distress to Baldwin's family.