Hallways Handbook - Kent State University

7.13 Copyright Infringement and the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)
It is illegal to download or share copyrighted materials without the express permission of
the copyright holder. If you download and/or distribute copyrighted material without the
copyright holders permission then this is a violation of both Federal law and university policy
subject to severe penalties.
If caught, you may be subject to statutory damages up to $30,000 for each work infringed
and, if willful infringement is proven by the copyright owner, that amount may be increased
up to $150,000 for each work infringed. The penalty for movie infringements can be up
to $250,000 per movie file. In addition, an infringer of a work may also be liable for the
attorney’s fees incurred by the copyright owner to enforce his or her rights, and university
sanctions ranging from losing network usage rights to dismissal from the university.
For more information refer to the DMCA site at http://www.security.kent.edu/dmca
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