Can I publish my notes of a college lecture class?

Robert Bonomi wrote:
>  If the professor so much
> as wrote notes (or an outline) for the lecture -- even if just for his own
> use -- then _those_ items satisfy the  'fixed in a tangible medium of
> expression' requirement, an the 'presentation' in the classroom is then a
> 'public performance' of that _copyrighted_ work.

I agree with Mr. Bonomi's analysis, but that aside, if OP wants to begin a legitimate lecture-notes service for the classes he is attending and make his product available on the web or elsewhere, wouldn't the easiest way be to simply approach the professor and ask his permission?  So long as he does so, and if his intent and work product is actually to aid fellow students in understanding and organizing the lecture material, IMO his chances are good that the professor will be happy to agree.   The professor _wants_ the students to understand the material and, if they can do so with the aid of other people's notes, it will mean less time the professor will have to spend in office hours to go over the same already plowed ground with a student.   I suspect many schools have even institutionalized the process somewhat, as mine did, and OP may be able to get paid as a note-writer for some centralized service on campus that does this (and that would jealously protect its own exclusive license to do so, but that is another question no one raised).  When I was a grad student at UCLA several years back (I won't say how many, but I used a manual typewriter) I took notes (for a fee) for the Student Union's note-taking program in the classes I was already attending and listening to as part of my job as a Teaching Assistant.   The SU then sold the proofread and printed notes (_they_ had a word processor, so it wasn't _that_ many years ago) to anyone who wanted them, all copyrighted and licensed and everything.   Worked out great for everyone including the undergrads and the profs.

Of course, all this assumes that OP's goals are compatible with those of the school, to actually further the education of its students and not just give them a crib sheet.   If a formal class-notes program does not exist yet on his campus, perhaps he can convince the authorities to let him create one, with the built-in marketing boost that exposure in the student newspaper and offical school website, etc. can provide.

Now, in law school, mainly we formed small study groups to share notes with and to go over the material until we understood it.   That process itself was part of the learning experience and you probably would not find much market for published sets of lecture notes specific to a certain professor, since published outlines of the general material covered in law school classes were and are also widely available in bookstores and libraries without stepping on anyone's copyright toes.

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