Northwestern University continues to monitor legal and
legislative activity relating to the Internet and its use
by society and our community. The visibility of these issues
and their impact on members of the academic community --
faculty, staff and students alike, is reflected in recent
stories in the Daily
Northwestern and the New
York Times regarding violations of copyright.
Northwestern University, as part of the higher-education
community must strike a balance between the interests of
the academic community in using technology’s full
capabilities for lawful purposes, and the interests of
creators and licensors of intellectual property in protecting
their works from unauthorized use, copying, and distribution.
It is important for everyone at Northwestern to recognize
that there is in place currently a legal framework made
up of statutes, case law, and procedures designed to protect
the intellectual property rights of creators of technology
developments and artistic works, and that lawsuits can
and are being brought against individuals who do not respect
the intellectual property rights of others. Please take
note of two recent lawsuits that could have an impact on
our community:
On April 3, 2003, the Recording Industry Association of
America (RIAA) filed lawsuits against four students claiming
that the students have "taken a network created for
higher learning and academic pursuits and converted it
into an emporium of music piracy." Each
student was sued personally for $150,000 for each of the
dozens of recordings listed by title in the complaint filed
against him. On May 1, 2003, each case was settled
with the student agreeing to pay damages ranging from $12,000
to $17,500 per student over a four-year period [full
story]. This is an important event in two ways:
(a) the RIAA bypassed the processes normally followed under
the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of first notifying
the University service provider and requiring a take down
of infringing materials or blocking network access, before
a lawsuit alleging infringement is filed; and (b) the defendant
students were operating file sharing services *within*
their university network -- not even to the Internet at
large.
On April 24, 2003, a judge upheld a ruling that an Internet
Service Provider must identify a subscriber who the RIAA
asserts has violated copyright laws under the DMCA [details]. Please
note that this decision could force universities, including
Northwestern, to identify by name individuals (faculty,
staff or students) within their networks at the time a
DMCA complaint is filed, thereby exposing these individuals
to legal suits and personal liability.
Northwestern University urges everyone in its community
to abide by the network
use policies and comply with copyright law. Copying
or sharing music or other copyrighted material, including
software, without a permissible copyright defense, such
as Fair Use, or a valid license, is not only a violation
of the University's policies, it is illegal. It may have
dire personal consequences and jeopardize the individual’s
continued enrollment or continued employment, as well as
future job prospects.
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