$7.8M for Excelsior in exam suit: Operator of California test-prep company sold college's copyrighted works as "test tips" to nursing students.

Byline: Cathleen F. Crowley

Dec. 19--A federal jury ordered a California test-prep company to pay Albany-based Excelsior College $7.8 million for stealing study guides and test questions from Excelsior's nursing exams. Charles Frye, who operated Professional Development Systems School of Health Sciences and West Haven University, was found guilty of willfully violating Excelsior's copyrights and trade secrets. Frye collected the exam questions by sitting for several tests himself and collecting them from students who took the exams, according to Excelsior. Then Frye sold them back to Excelsior students, calling them "test tips" or "power points." Some of Frye's students resold them on eBay. Paul Rapp, an adjunct professor at …