Goucher College: Peer-to-Peer File Sharing and Copyright Law

Peer-to-Peer File Sharing and Copyright Law

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Peer-to-Peer File Sharing and Copyright Law

Industry organizations (e.g. Recording Industry Association of America: RIAA) have filed copyright infringement lawsuits against individual college students who have used file sharing programs to share copyrighted material. Lawsuits are expected to continue in the near future. Some uses of the peer-to-peer technologies are perfectly legitimate but some activities are not (e.g., copying and sharing of music files without the authorization of the copyright owner). Goucher College wants you to be aware of these issues and situations.

To avoid the risk of potential lawsuits due to copyright infringement, the college is advising students to carefully restrict the use of file sharing applications to material that is legal to share, to disable the file sharing software, or to change the file sharing options for the software. A resolution has been passed by the Student Government (SGA) to block all incoming and outgoing peer-to-peer program Internet traffic. Examples of these programs include, but are not limited to, BitTorrent, KaZaA, Morpheus, Limewire and Bearshare. The SGA took this action because of the high levels of spy ware, computer viruses, use of these programs to transmit and receive copyrighted material, and high bandwidth utilization associated with these programs. Effective December 21, 2004, peer-to-peer file sharing programs have been blocked on campus.

Violation of copyright law can have serious consequences in the area of:

Civil Liability: Persons found to have infringed may be held liable for substantial damages and attorneys fees. The law entitles a plaintiff to seek statutory damages of $150,000 for each act of willful infringement. In the cases filed by the RIAA against students at Princeton, RPI, and Michigan Tech, the recording industry sued for damages of $150,000 for each recording infringed.
Criminal Liability: Copyright infringement also carries criminal penalties under the federal No Electronic Theft Act. Depending on the number and value of the products exchanged, penalties for a first offense may be as high as three years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

The college supports a climate of trust and respect and does not ordinarily read, monitor, or screen electronic mail, Internet access, or the computer activities of individuals. The college expects students to be aware of current laws and applicable college policies with respect to computer, network, and Internet activities.

To be in compliance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), the College has designated an agent to receive notices of copyright infringement from copyright owners. If the College receives notification from a copyright owner that you have engaged in infringing activity, it will investigate the complaint, and, if appropriate, notify you to take down the offending material and cease from engaging in such conduct. In addition, if you violate copyright law by engaging in unauthorized file sharing, you may be subject to discipline under the College’s Copyright Policy, Computer Use Policy, and other applicable College policies. Violations of copyright law may also subject you to civil and criminal prosecution. For more information, please see the Policies section of the Information Technology web site.