If you don’t have permission from the artist whose music you are downloading or uploading, you are stealing – and you could be punished for your crime. To help you protect yourself and stay informed, we consulted the U.S. Copyright Office for clarification on what’s legal and what’s not when it comes to music, television show, and movie uploading and downloading.
*The following information was taken verbatim from the official Web site of the United States’ Copyright Office in Washington, DC. For more information or for further clarification, please visit www.copyright.gov or call 202.707.3000.
Uploading or downloading works protected by copyright without the authority of the copyright owner is an infringement of the copyright owner's exclusive rights of reproduction and/or distribution. Anyone found to have infringed a copyrighted work may be liable for 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. 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.
Whether or not a particular work is being made available under the authority of the copyright owner is a question of fact. But since any original work of authorship fixed in a tangible medium (including a computer file) is protected by federal copyright law upon creation, in the absence of clear information to the contrary, most works may be assumed to be protected by federal copyright law.Still have questions? Please visit www.nethics.umd.edu, the official Web site of OIT’s Project NEThics, for information about the university’s specific policies regarding online piracy. Don’t forget to check out the fact sheets for additional information. You can also contact us if you’d like to ask a specific question.
Since the files distributed over peer-to-peer networks are primarily copyrighted works, there is a risk of liability for downloading material from these networks. To avoid these risks, there are currently many ‘authorized’ services on the Internet that allow consumers to purchase copyrighted works online, whether music, ebooks, or motion pictures. By purchasing works through authorized services, consumers can avoid the risks of infringement liability and can limit their exposure to other potential risks, e.g., viruses, unexpected material, or spyware.
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This page is maintained by the Office of Information Technology Last modified: Friday, 25-Jan-2008 18:18:37 EST © 2008 University of Maryland |
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