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Official Notifications for Students: Copyright Infringement and the Internet
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Copyright Infringement and the Internet
As a student utilizing Ohio University computer and network resources, we urge you to be aware of your obligations under Federal copyright law and University policies. In response to actions by copyright holders regarding distribution of copyrighted materials without permission, you could:
- Lose University network access and/or be subject to University disciplinary action for violation of the Student Code of Conduct.
- Become the target of a civil lawsuit from the recording or motion picture industries.
- Face Federal prosecution that could result in jail time and/or large fines.
Most copyright infringement cases involve the use of popular peer-to-peer (P2P) software like KaZaA, iMesh, Gnutella, Morpheus and Direct Connect. While the software itself is neither unlawful nor prohibited by the University, using that software to swap music, movies, software, games, and photographs without the copyright holders' permission is illegal.
Because all intellectual works are automatically covered by copyright unless explicitly noted otherwise, just about everything you find on the Internet is copyrighted and therefore illegal to distribute without explicit permission.
Don't assume you're safe! Most popular P2P programs automatically set themselves up to share your files with the world when they are installed. If you have copyrighted files on your computer, it is your responsibility to remove the P2P software from your computer or make sure that it is correctly configured not to distribute those files.
For more information, please see Ohio University Policy 91-003.
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