Your Responsibilities at Whitman College with Respect to Copyright Law
Many members of the Whitman community have questions about their rights and responsibilities with respect to use of copyrighted material, particularly the sharing of music and movies in digital format over the Internet. This document provides an overview of Whitman’s policies and procedures governing music and movie sharing and how we deal with alleged violations. Recent legal actions by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) against violators of music copyright have made it imperative that everyone understand the risks of their behavior when sharing music and movies with others.
Copyright Law
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material regardless of the format of that material. Copyright law is complicated and its interpretation is sometimes controversial. More information about copyright can be found at wcts.whitman.edu/resources/copyright.
Peer-to-Peer Programs (P2P)
Spurred on by the widespread use of the Internet, P2P programs have been developed to allow people to share information in digital formats. In particular, programs like KaZaA, Gnutella, Morpheus, AudioGalaxy and others are commonly used to share music and movies without regard to the restrictions placed on that material by the copyright owners. Most commercially produced music and movies are copyrighted and cannot be freely shared. This is the law.
Whitman does not examine the information content that is being transmitted (e.g. the music itself) but does monitor the type of information (e.g., that is an MP3 file) in order for us to give priority to academic uses of our network. Members of our community must follow college-defined policies for appropriate use of technology resources. The details of the Whitman’s IT policies and procedures can be found at wcts.whitman.edu/policy/
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)
The DMCA specifies procedures that Whitman must follow when notified an individual using our network is violating copyright laws. If the copyright holder contacts Whitman about a violation we will stop network access for the individual, notify him/her of the notice we have received, and require removal of the offending material from his/her computer. The individual has the right to claim that the material is not protected by copyright and then a legal process begins. To date, every notice we have received has resulted in the offending material being removed. The details about the DMCA procedures can be found at www.whitman.edu/policy/copyright.html.
Recent Legal Actions
Recently, the RIAA has taken further action to subpoena the names of people who are sharing large amounts of music. If Whitman receives a subpoena, we are required to provide the name of the violator who is using our network. These subpoenas can lead to lawsuits, substantial financial penalties and perhaps jail time. In the spring of 2003, for example, four students at other colleges settled copyright claims against them out-of-court for approximately $15,000 each. The consequences of illegally sharing copyrighted material over the Internet are serious.
Some people have argued that the recording industry has been overcharging for music CDs and that music sharing is justified. Others feel that the recording industry has been too slow to adopt legal ways for music to be distributed over the Internet at lower cost. Regardless, most music and movie-sharing violates the law that we are bound to uphold. If you distribute copyrighted music and videos you are putting yourself at risk of losing computing privileges and even facing prosecution under civil and criminal laws.
Protecting Yourself
Because of functionality built into file-sharing software resident on your computer, your audio and video files may be available for uploading over the Internet without your knowledge or permission. For more information on how to turn off this functionality, and for other tips on responsible computing, please check out Protecting Your Computer and Privacy.
If you have further questions, contact helpdesk@whitman.edu
Adapted with permission from Hamilton College