COLUMBIA (AP) – An advocacy group is asking the Missouri Supreme Court to overturn a ruling that course outlines used by University of Missouri teachers are not public records.

The National Council on Teacher Quality argued in a motion filed Wednesday that a state appeals court was incorrect when it ruled that the course syllabi are the intellectual property of faculty members, meaning they are not public records.

The Washington D.C-based group’s effort in Missouri is part of a nationwide effort to monitor what aspiring teachers learn at college.

The Columbia Daily Tribune reports the group contends the appeals court ruling in August did not consider that the federal copyright law includes an exception when copies are for “nonprofit educational purposes.”