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A federal jury in Connecticut has ordered Learneo Inc., the parent company of the academic file-sharing platform Course Hero, to pay $75.3 million in damages to Post University after finding thousands of violations of copyright law involving academic materials.

The verdict was delivered Wednesday in federal court in Hartford after jurors spent nearly 14 hours deliberating across three days. The panel concluded that Learneo repeatedly removed copyright management information from documents uploaded to Course Hero and replaced it with its own identifiers, violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Post University filed the lawsuit in 2021, claiming the platform made it difficult for rights holders to monitor and protect their materials. According to the university, documents such as course syllabi, exams, assignments and student essays were uploaded to Course Hero by users, and the site altered identifying information connected to those materials.

The jury found more than 3,000 violations related to the removal of copyright information. Under federal law, statutory damages for each violation can range from $2,500 to $25,000. Jurors applied the maximum amount allowed for each instance, resulting in the $75.3 million award.

During the trial, Post University’s technical expert testified that nearly 300,000 potential violations were identified in the handling of more than 2,000 documents involved in the case. That estimate could have exposed the company to damages exceeding $7 billion if the jury had accepted the full scope of those claims.

The nine-day trial focused on allegations of direct, contributory and vicarious copyright infringement, along with violations involving the removal of copyright management information. Five of the documents cited in the lawsuit were registered with the U.S. Copyright Office, and the jury awarded $114.85 in damages for infringement tied to those works based on revenue generated from them.

Post University argued that when documents were uploaded, Course Hero modified them by adding its logo, banners, advertisements and watermarks. The university said the platform also altered metadata connected to the files, creating the impression that the materials belonged to the site.

Attorneys for the university told jurors that Course Hero hosts tens of millions of documents from students and educators across thousands of institutions, making it difficult for rights holders to track and remove copyrighted materials.

Lawyers for Learneo disputed those claims, arguing the platform operates within the framework of federal copyright law. The company said its policies go beyond the requirements of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which obligates online platforms to remove specific content once they receive valid takedown notices.

Defense attorneys also said the watermark and metadata changes were designed to limit duplicate uploads and discourage students from downloading documents such as essays and submitting them as their own work.

They also questioned whether Post University actually owned the rights to some of the documents cited in the lawsuit, noting that student-created materials may not belong to the institution.

Following the verdict, an attorney representing Post University thanked the jury and said the university had worked for more than five years to pursue the case. A senior university official present in court said the decision affirmed the need to protect academic materials.

Learneo responded in a statement that it strongly disagrees with the outcome and plans to appeal. The company said the damages award was not supported by the facts or the law and emphasized that it maintains copyright policies, automated monitoring tools and compliance procedures to assist educators and rights holders.

The case was heard in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut under Judge Vernon D. Oliver. The dispute is formally titled Post University Inc. v. Learneo Inc., and further proceedings are expected as the appeal process moves forward.