Copyright Infringement - Policy Statement
REG 01.25.02
Authority:
Issued by the Chancellor. Changes or exceptions to administrative regulations issued by the Chancellor may only be made by the Chancellor.
History:
First Issued: June 10, 1999.
Related Policies:
NCSU POL08.00.1 - Board of Trustee Policy - Computer Use
NCSU REG01.25.3 - Copyright Implementation Pursuant to Copyright Use and Ownership Policy of the University of North Carolina .
Contact Info:
Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Studies (919-515-2117); Scholarly Communication Librarian (919-513-2046)
1. Introduction
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act amends federal copyright law to provide
certain liability protections for online service providers, including NC State
University, when their computer systems or networks carry materials that violate
(infringe) copyright law. To qualify for liability protection, the university
is required to have a policy under which the computer accounts of users will
be terminated if they repeatedly infringe the copyrighted works of others.
2. Policy Statement
Compliance with federal copyright law is expected of all students, faculty
and staff at North Carolina State University. "Copyright" is legal
protection for creative intellectual works, which is broadly interpreted to
cover just about any expression of an idea. Text (including email and web
information), graphics, art, photographs, music, and software are examples
of types of work protected by copyright. The creator of the work, or sometimes
the person who hired the creator, is the initial copyright owner.
You may "use" all or part of a copyrighted work only if (a) you
have the copyright owner's permission, or (b) you qualify for a legal exception
(the most common exception is called "fair use"). "Use" of a work is defined for copyright purposes as copying, distributing, making
derivative works, publicly displaying, or publicly performing the work.
Copying, distributing, downloading, and uploading information on the Internet
may infringe the copyright for that information. Even an innocent, unintentional
infringement violates the law. Violations of copyright law that occur on or
over the university's networks or other computer resources may create liability
for the university as well as the computer user. Accordingly, repeat infringers
will have their computer account and other access privileges terminated by
NC State.
