A Texas-based test-preparatory company has agreed to pay a $1-million settlement to the College Board two months after it filed a copyright-infringement lawsuit against the company, Karen Dillard College Prep LP.
In April the College Board said the company, known as KDCP, had illegally obtained copies of SAT forms before they were available to the public, and had used those questions in practice materials distributed to its test-prep clients. In response, KDCP countersued the College Board for allegedly obtaining proprietary information about the company from a former employee.
Under the terms of the settlement, announced today, both sides have dropped their lawsuits, and the College Board will not cancel the SAT scores of students who used KDCP’s test-prep materials and classes. Also, $400,000 of the $1-million settlement will be paid by KDCP by offering free SAT test-prep services to low-income high-school students.
Karen Dillard, managing partner of KDCP, said in a news release that her company now recognized that it “should have been more cautious in handling College Board materials, and going forward KDCP is committed to respecting the College Board’s intellectual-property rights.”
Both the company and the College Board have agreed to limit their comments on the matter to the news release. —Elizabeth F. Farrell