Digital Millennium Copyright Act
In 1998, the U.S. Congress passed into law the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which implements two 1996 World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaties and addresses a number of significant copyright-related issues.
Title II of the DMCA establishes certain requirements for Online Service Providers (OSP) concerning copyright infringement violations including: 1) registration of an agent with the U.S. Copyright Office; 2) development and posting of updated copyright policies; 3) adoption of "notice and takedown" procedures for alleged copyright infringing materials; and 4) accommodation and non-interference with standard technical measures utilized by copyright owners to identify and protect their works. Title II, Section 512 addresses the issue of erroneous notifications from copyright holders by establishing certain safeguards. Individuals are given the opportunity to respond to a copyright infringement notice and takedown by filing a counter notification. The DMCA specifies that all notices of copyright infringement from copyright holders be in writing and be in the proper form of a DMCA notice.
Under DMCA, UNCG is considered an OSP for its students, faculty and staff. DMCA requires the university to expeditiously respond to complaints it receives of copyright infringements. When notified, under penalty of perjury, by a copyright owner of infringing materials on a computer attached to the university network, UNCG will take immediate action to block network access to the computer and notify the owner of the computer. Network access will be restored after the infringing material is removed from the computer or within 14 days after receiving a proper counter-notification, unless the copyright owner files an action seeking a court order against the computer owner. A second violation will result in loss of access to the University network for three years. Additionally, as an OSP, UNCG may be served with a subpoena for the identity of the owner of a computer determined to contain infringing materials. UNCG will comply with a lawfully issued subpoena that meets the requirements of the DMCA. Violation of the DMCA can result in severe civil or criminal penalties.
By far the greatest cause of copyright infringements is the use of peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing services, such as Morpheus, BitTorrent and Limewire, for sharing music and movies. Although the use of P2P file sharing is not illegal in and of itself, using it to share copyright protected files is, unless the person doing the sharing has express permission from the copyright owner. Generally, the P2P file sharing programs install the software and automatically share downloaded files with other Internet users. Copyright owners and their agents use automated methods to actively scan the Internet to detect computers that are illegally sharing copyrighted files.
A statutory limitation to the Copyright Act of importance to nonprofit educational institutions is Section 107, the doctrine of "fair use". Under this doctrine, limited use of copyrighted material is allowed without prior permission of the copyright owner if certain criteria are met. Section 107 lists purposes for which the reproduction of a particular work may be considered "fair", and presents factors to be considered in determining whether or not a particular use is fair.
Additional information concerning copyrights may be obtained at the following sources:
- UNCG Copyright Compliance for Users of UNCG Technology Policy
- UNCG Copyright Ownership and Use Policy
- UNCG Notice and Takedown Procedures
- UNCG DMCA Agent
- UNCG No Electronic Theft (NET) Act Information
- UNC Primer on Copyright Ownership and Use
- Fair Use of Copyrighted Materials (U.S. Copyright Office)
- Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (U.S. Copyright Office Summary) (PDF: requires a reader such as Adobe Reader)
- Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (U.S. Copyright Office) (PDF: requires a reader such as Adobe Reader)
- U.S. Copyright Office