Statement on Copyright from University Attorney's Office:
Copyright infringement is a violation of federal law and subject to severe civil penalties and sanctions and can also be a violation of federal criminal law. Under federal copyright law, copyrighted works may not be copied, published, disseminated, displayed, performed or played without the permission of the copyright holder unless such use is deemed to be "fair use" under the law. This includes "sharing" music, movies and other copyrighted material via Peer-to-Peer Applications (P2P) such as KaZaA, Morpheus, Bearshare, etc. Thus, every user of East Carolina University's networks and Web must maintain a basic understanding of copyright law and must comply with applicable East Carolina University policies.
It is the policy of East Carolina University to promptly process and investigate notices of alleged copyright infringement, and take appropriate actions under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Title 17, United States Code, Section 512 ("DMCA"). ECU may suspend the network access of users while investigating a copyright complaint and may terminate the network account of users who are found to have repeatedly infringed the copyrights of others. Furthermore, students, staff and faculty may be subject to disciplinary action pursuant to applicable computer use policies for violations of copyright laws and/or for excessive bandwidth usage.
Pursuant to the DMCA, East Carolina University has designated an agent to receive notification of alleged copyright infringement occurring on Web pages or computer servers. East Carolina University's designated agent is:
Administrator: Ms. Marti Van Scott
Director, Office of Technology Transfer
Email: vanscottm@mail.ecu.edu
Phone: (252) 328-9549
Fax: (252) 328-0799
U.S. Mail: 2200 Charles Blvd
Room 2400, Greenville Centre
Greenville, NC 27858
For more information on U.S. copyright law and the DMCA, consult the Web site of the U.S. Copyright Office. The U.S. Copyright office has a variety of circulars and forms, available online or printed, which can provide answers and guidance to many copyright questions and issues. The Copyright Office's Circular 1 has simple, concise, explanations and descriptions of what you must do to keep from infringing copyrights of others, as well as protecting your own creative works. In addition, there are resources available through the library or through a simple Web search on copyright.
Kitty Wetherington
University Attorney
