Downloading and/or Sharing Copyrighted Material by University Employees Letter

August 26, 2003

 

TO:	University faculty and staff with supervisory responsibility
FR:	Carol Carrier, Vice President for Human Resources
	Steve Cawley, Associate Vice President & Chief Information Officer
RE:	Downloading and/or sharing of copyrighted materials by University employees

As you may have read in the news media, the use of computers to download and/or share music and movies is an escalating technology and legal issue between Internet users and copyright owners such as recording artists and the motion picture industry. [The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), an organization representing many recording industry copyright holders, is becoming increasingly aggressive in enforcing copyrights and has announced the intention to sue several hundred infringers in the near future.]

Please make very clear to all employees in your department or college (including student employees) that non-employment related downloading or sharing of copyrighted music and movies on University equipment is not acceptable behavior and may be subject to disciplinary actions. You can consult with your Human Resources professional regarding appropriate disciplinary actions.

Copyright laws and copyright permissions can be complicated; for example, certain situations involving academic uses present "fair use" opportunities to exercise limited exceptions to copyright restrictions. In cases where fair use or other opportunities to exercise limited exceptions to copyright restrictions are not responsible options, the University has an office dedicated to helping faculty and staff obtain such permissions when needed for their work. Their web site is: http://www.copyright.umn.edu/

If you would like more information or background on this issue, including peer to peer (P2P) sharing, please see: http://www.umn.edu/oit/P2P-staff/.

Thank you for your assistance.