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Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)

Introduction
On October 28, 1998, Congress signed into law the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which provides certain limitations of copyright infringement liability for Internet Service Providers (ISPs), such as a computer server in the northwestern.edu domain. In order to take advantage of certain protections from liability, the Internet Service Provider (ISP) must designate an agent. The agent must be registered with the United States Copyright Office and the agent contact information must be posted on a Web page accessible to the public. The designated DMCA Agent receives and investigates alleged copyright infringements. Roger Safian is the DMCA Agent for Northwestern University. Northwestern University Associate General Counsel, Ann Adams, also represents the University when investigating an alleged copyright infringement.

[What is Copyright Infringement?]
[Why could my port be turned off?]
[What could happen to me if my port is turned off?]
[Policies and Guidelines]

What is Copyright Infringement?
As defined by the U.S. Copyright Office, copyright infringement is downloading and/or distributing fixed work (movies, music, graphics, papers, or other copyrighted materials/media) without the owner's permission. This is illegal and is an issue of concern at Northwestern University.

Some examples: According to the Fair Use Guidelines for Educational Multimedia, students "may use portions of lawfully acquired copyrighted works (i.e. videotapes, DVD, QuickTime movies) in their academic multimedia projects." The fine print, however, is that the material must be legitimately acquired (a legal copy, not bootleg or home recording). And, according to the DMCA, students may download images from the Internet for student projects. However, images may not be reposted onto the Internet without permission of the original artist.

Under law, a professor can use an article, story or essay of less than 2,500 words and make multiple copies for classroom use and incorporate it into a multimedia presentation for teaching classes. The fine print, however, means that only one copy is allowed per student; the copies can only be from legally acquired originals; and the professor can only make copies in nine instances per class per term. If an entire work was being used, the copies must contain copyright information.

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Why could my port be turned off?
Administrators of computers, systems and networks have the responsibility to protect the rights of users, to set policies, consistent with those rights, and to publicize those policies to those users. Violation of these policies may result in action by NUIT, which could include turning off your port. Reasons your port could be turned off:

• Operation of a network-intensive application or a defective computer, either of which overloads networks (bandwidth management)

• An imminent hazard, such as a computer virus, that disrupts the activities of others (get control)

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What could happen to me if my port is turned off?
We may notify you by e-mail stating that your University network has been disabled for security reasons. You can call the Network Operations Center (847/467-6662) to speak with the Information Security Coordinator. If you move the network connection to other Ethernet ports, those ports may be disabled as well and may affect many other persons connected to the network.

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Policies and Guidelines

• U.S. Copyright Office
• Copyright Clearance at Northwestern University
• Computing and Network Policies
• Network Security
• Rights and Responsibilities
• Software Use
• Purchasing Guidelines
• Bulk Email
• Use of Student Residence Computer Networks