Copyright Infringement Notice to Students

IT Services at the University of Arkansas provides information on copyright infringement as part of the Higher Education Opportunity Act's institutional requirements for combating unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material by network users.

It is a violation of the Code of Computing Practices at the University of Arkansas for any user to commit copyright infringement using university resources, including any portion of the campus and residence hall networks. Violation of the Code is also a violation of the Code of Student Life (1), and can result in disciplinary sanctions and/or the suspension or revocation of the offender's access to the network and other university resources (2).

In the process of downloading a file using peer-to-peer file sharing applications, content is distributed. Doing anything with copyrighted content on a peer-to-peer network potentially puts the user in violation of this policy.

Downloading or uploading substantial parts of a copyrighted work without authority constitutes infringement. Willful copyright infringement can result in criminal penalties, including imprisonment of up to five years and fines of up to $250,000 per offense.

Copyright infringement is the act of exercising, without permission or legal authority, any rights granted to the copyright owner (3). These rights include the reproduction or distribution of a copyrighted work.

Copyright infringement can also result in civil and criminal penalties. Anyone found liable for civil copyright infringement can be ordered to pay actual damages or "statutory" damages, with fines ranging from $750 to $30,000 per work infringed. For "willful" infringement, a court may award up to $150,000 per work infringed. A court can also assess costs and attorneys' fees (4).

To learn more about how the university combats unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material, see http://its.uark.edu/copyright.html.

1. Code of Student Life, Section I.B.28. (http://handbook.uark.edu)
2. Code of Computing Practices, Sections III.E.2. (http://its.uark.edu/code.html)
3. Title 17, United States Code, Section 106 of the Copyright Act
4. Title 17, United States Code, Sections 504, 505