Ass’n of Am. Med. Colls. v. Mikaelian, 571 F. Supp. 144 (E.D. Pa. 1983)

Sep 4, 2026

Case analysis focused on copyright dispute over the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) question content. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) alleged unauthorized copying by Multiprep, including extensive verbatim use of practice questions that substantially overlapped MCAT examinations. The issue centered on whether using actual MCAT questions for student preparation qualifies as fair use under copyright law. The court granted a preliminary injunction, finding fair use not applicable due to commercial purpose, non-public-domain protected questions, substantial copying, and market harm to MCAT accuracy and comparability.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages1

Reading Time3 min

AccessFree to download

Case Overview

Key Facts

Legal Issue

Holding and Reasoning

Outcome

Ass’n ofAm. Med. Colls. v. Mikaelian, 571 F. Supp. 144 (E.D. Pa. 1983) | Year | 1983 | | --- | --- | | Court | United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania | | Key
Facts | Plaintiff Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) owned the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) copyright. Defendant Viken Mikaelian owned and operated defendant Multiprep, Inc., which prepared students to take the MCAT by providing them with practice materials. Up to 50% of MCAT questions are used in more than one version of the test. Defendant Mikaelian personally took the MCAT eight separate times, and AAMC demonstrated that 879 of the questions in the practice materials that defendants prepared (about 90% of the practice the materials) were identical to questions on the tests administered to defendant Mikaelian. AAMC also alleged that the practice materials gave defendant’s students an unfair advantage, thus potentially harming the MCAT’s credibility. AAMC sought a preliminary injunction against plaintiff’s continued use of actual MCAT questions. | | Issue | Whether the use of actual MCAT questions in preparing students to take the MCAT qualifies as fair use. | | Holding | The court granted plaintiff a preliminary injunction. It held that the MCAT questions were not merely scientific facts within the public domain, and that defendant’s use of its questions did not constitute fair use. The purpose factor did not favor defendants: Multiprep may have had a training function, but its use of the MCAT materials was highly commercial, and the materials were not assembled “to advance scientific knowledge among Philadelphia-area undergraduates.” Regarding the nature of the work, MCAT questions were created and used under strict security, and were copyrighted specifically to“prevent their use as teaching aids.” The questions were not the type of material that could be fairly used. Concerning the amount and substantiality of the work, nearly 90% of the Multiprep materials were used verbatim, making it unlikely that fair use could apply. Finally, concerning market effect, Multiprep’s use of the materials would make the MCAT questions worthless to AAMC, as continued use could “destroy the accuracy and comparability of the MCAT because Multiprep students will have an unfair advantage over others taking the MCAT.” | | Tags | Third Circuit; Education/Scholarship/Research; Textual work | | Outcome | Fair use not found | Source: U.S. Copyright Office Fair Use Index. For more information, see [http://copyright.gov/fair](http://copyright.gov/fair)use/index.html.

FAQs

What was the core legal issue in Ass’n of Am. Med. Colls. v. Mikaelian?

Whether using actual MCAT questions to prepare students for the MCAT qualifies as fair use.

Why did the court find the use not to be fair use?

The court concluded the MCAT questions were copyrighted and not public-domain facts, the purpose factor did not favor the defendants, the use was highly commercial, and nearly 90% of the materials were copied verbatim, creating market harm.

What was the outcome of the case?

The court granted AAMC a preliminary injunction and held that fair use was not found.

Sep 4, 2026

Uploaded by WPS_1786070896