Is Classcaster CLE Worthy?

I recently received the latest update from West LegalEdcenter regarding the recent additions to their online CLE (continuing legal education) programs. The message featured the following:

Award Winning ‘Justice Talking’ Programs
from NPR Now Available on West LegalEdcenter

NPR’s award-winning ‘Justice Talking’ programs are now available for CLE credit at West LegalEdcenter! Created by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, and hosted by veteran NPR reporter Margot Adler, the series features an entertaining and educational mix of voices and opinions from the nation’s leading advocates, legal scholars, and policymakers.

Select from a list of more than 25 recent ‘Justice Talking’ programs or choose our featured program, recorded earlier this month.

Of course I followed the link.  It took me a page offering to sell me downloadable versions of NPR’s Justice Talking series for $60 a piece.  $60!  Just listen to this and receive CLE credit in 19 states.  Wow!  I then decided to delve a bit.  I surfed over to the Justice Talking site and found the very same episodes available for free download.  Of course just downloading them doesn’t mean you can get the credit:)  That would be too easy.

Anyway, I gave a listen to the free NPR downloads and it occured to me that there is not a lot of difference between Justice Talking and some of the podcasts on Classcaster.  So what if we licensed the podcasts on Classcaster to awest for use in CLE?  Of course only with permission of the authors.  Something to think about.

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