# 132

III-4.2000 November 16, 1993

The Honorable Sam Farr

Member, U.S. House of Representatives
380 Alvarado Street
Monterey, California 93940

Dear Congressman Farr:

This is in response to your inquiry on behalf of your

constituent, XXXXXXXXXX. XXXXXXXXXXX inquiry concerns his wife,
a student at a private university, who has been prevented from
taping a classroom lecture or having another student take notes
of the lecture on her behalf. XXXXXXXXXXX wife reportedly has a
disability, the nature of which is not set out in the letter,
and is unable to write. Mr. Marsh inquired whether the
instructor's prohibition of note-taking or tape recording
constitutes a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA).

The ADA authorizes the Department of Justice to provide

technical assistance to individuals and entities regarding their
rights and obligations under the act. This letter provides
informal guidance to assist you in responding to your
constituent. However, this technical assistance does not
constitute a legal interpretation by the Department and it is not
binding on the Department.

According to XXXXXXXXXXX letter, the professor forbids

copying of lecture notes or tape recording of the lectures
because he is preparing a book on the course topic and does not
wish to have the materials otherwise disseminated. The ADA
requires that persons with a disability be afforded an equal
opportunity to benefit from the services of a public
accommodation. Furthermore, the ADA requires public
accommodations to make reasonable modifications in policies and
procedures if necessary to afford an equal opportunity.
Therefore, if students are generally permitted to take notes of
the course lectures, the professor must modify his policy of
forbidding tape recording or copying of lecture notes in order to
accommodate the student who cannot write due to a disability,
unless there is afforded some other equally effective means of
providing the student an opportunity to benefit from the course.

Such reasonable modifications in policies and procedures are

required unless they would fundamentally alter the nature of the
goods or services being offered or cause an undue burden.
If the concern is unauthorized dissemination of course contents,
the professor could require the student with a disability to
agree that the copied materials would not be used for any purpose
other than individual study, so long as other students in the
course are similarly restricted in their use of course notes.

I have enclosed a copy of the ADA Handbook for XXXXXXXXX.

The Handbook contains a copy of the Americans with Disabilities
Act.

I hope this information is helpful in responding to your

constituent.

Sincerely,

James P. Turner
Acting Assistant Attorney General
Civil Rights Division

Enclosure