Another tip in a series provided by the Offices of Information Systems & Computing and Audit, Compliance & Privacy

Thank you for Sharing…Intelligently

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) applies to all faculty, staff and students at Penn.

The DMCA was signed into law in 1998 to protect the rights of the original work of authorship from reproduction or tampering and criminalizes the use or development of software that allows users to illegally access and redistribute copyright-protected material.

Because The Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 requires post-secondary educational institutions to set policies and sanctions related to copyright infringement, the University has its own Policy on Unauthorized Copying of Copyrighted Media.

Copyright violations at Penn could result in discipline up to and including termination or expulsion through standard University procedures and could also result in criminal charges, civil suits, penalties or fines depending on facts and circumstances, so it is critical for University faculty and staff to exercise appropriate care in the use of copyrighted materials.

• Be cognizant of the fact that “fair use” of copyrighted material in an educational context still involves guidelines and restrictions and does not grant permission to simply redistribute copyrighted works in their entirety.
• Confirm that those who assist and support your work in the Penn community, including work-study students, teaching assistants, administrative staff and others are also made aware of relevant copyright policy and are also adhering to copyright guidelines.
• Ensure that University computers and other equipment in your workspace are not being inadvertently recruited for the illegal redistribution of copyrighted content via the default settings on common peer-to-peer (P2P) filesharing programs.
• Secure your computers with anti-virus programs. In addition to P2P filesharing programs, the presence of malware may also make computer systems vulnerable to exploit. Make sure your computer is secured with anti-virus programs and is kept updated with all necessary patches to guard against malware and attacks that could hijack your equipment for illegal data distribution or could compromise Penn’s intellectual property.

For more information about DMCA, The Higher Education Opportunity Act and how to report a copyright violation see: https://www.isc.upenn.edu/security/copyright-fileshare

For the University Policy on Unauthorized Copying of Copyrighted Media see: http://www.upenn.edu/computing/policy/copyright.html

For additional tips, see the One Step Ahead link on the Information Security website: https://www.isc.upenn.edu/security/news-alerts#One-Step-Ahead