Copyright Infringment
Copyright infringement is the act of exercising, without permission or legal authority, one or more of the exclusive rights granted to the copyright owner under section 106 of the Copyright Act (Title 17 of the United States Code). These rights include the right to reproduce or distribute a copyrighted work. In the file-sharing context, downloading or uploading substantial parts of a copyrighted work without authority constitutes an infringement.
Penalties for copyright infringement include civil and criminal penalties. In general, anyone found liable for civil copyright infringement may be ordered to pay either actual damages or “statutory” damages affixed at not less than $750 and not more than $30,000 per work infringed. A court can, in its discretion, also assess costs and attorneys’ fees. For details, see Title 17, United States Code, Sections 504, 505. Willful copyright infringement can also result in criminal penalties, including imprisonment of up to five years and fines of up to $250,000 per offense. For more information, please see the website of the U.S. Copyright Office: www.copyright.gov.
The school's computer systems and networks must not be used to download, upload, or otherwise handle illegal and/or unauthorized copyrighted content. Any of the following activities constitute violations of acceptable use policy, if done without permission of the copyright owner:
- copying and sharing images, music, movies, or other copyrighted material using P2P file sharing or unlicensed CDs and DVDs
- posting or plagiarizing copyrighted material
- downloading copyrighted files which the student has not already legally procured
This list is not meant to be exhaustive; copyright law applies to a wide variety of works and applies to much more than is listed above.