Downloading or Sharing Movies, Music or Software1
It has become popular practice to download movie, music, and software files from peer networks online. This violates both copyright and criminal 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. The basic premise of the law is to protect the creative product of artists and authors and allow them to control the distribution of their work and to receive compensation when their work is used or sold. Although copyright law is complicated and its interpretation a legal matter, it is clear that copyright rules apply to materials available in digital format over the Internet such as music and movies. According to the music and movie industries, the majority of the offenders are college students using their college Internet service. Unauthorized copying or distribution of software or other copyright material is prohibited at Midlands Technical College. Individual users are responsible and liable for such infringing activities. Procedures are in place at Midlands Technical College to prevent the use of P2P (Peer to Peer) programs and are updated as necessary as the college is notified of new P2P programs. At Midlands Technical College, we expect all system users to adhere to relevant copyright laws. |
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Recent Legal Actions
Recently, the RIAA has taken further action to subpoena the names of people who are sharing large amounts of music. If Midlands Technical College receives a subpoena, we are legally required to provide the names of the violators 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 of these or other justifications, most music and movie downloading and sharing violates the law that we are bound to uphold. If you download and/or distribute copyrighted music and videos you are putting yourself at risk of losing computing privileges and facing prosecution under civil and criminal laws.
(Not affiliated with Midlands Technical College)
1The wording on this web page was developed at Hamilton College and Washington State University and has been adapted for use at Midlands Technical College.