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Division of IT: Security
Security Awareness: The Copyright Quiz
Many people would never dream of walking into a store and stealing a CD or a DVD. Why? Because it's against the law. However, many people do not have the same attitude about downloading music or movies from the Internet without paying for them. The simple fact is that the law protects both the physical owner of a CD/DVD and the author who created the work saved on that CD/DVD.
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998 is a federal law that is designed to protect copyright holders from online theft-that is, from the unlawful reproduction or distribution of their works.
Copyright covers music, movies, text and anything that is copyrighted. More importantly, the law involves you, because there is a good chance you might be violating an author's copyright rights, even if you are not aware that you are.
If you have downloaded copyright-protected files without paying for them then you have violated an author's property rights. Take this short quiz to test your knowledge of copyright law. For each of the examples below, decide if you think the situation would be a violation of federal copyright law.
The Copyright Quiz
- Your sister e-mails a chapter of the newest Harry Potter book to you. It's such a good story, you decide to forward it to your best friend. Show answer
Yes, this violates the copyright protection granted to an author. It's highly unlikely that the author has given your sister permission to distribute part of her book. Therefore, you are illegally distributing a copyrighted work.
- You purchase a new CD and copy the songs on that CD to your MP3 player. Show answer
In general, this is not a violation of the DMCA. Purchasers are permitted to make a copy for use on a different medium, provided that the backup copy and the original copy will not be in use at the same time.
- You use a file sharing program to download your favorite movie and burn it to a DVD. Show answer
This is unauthorized duplication and violates the author's copyright because the copyright owner (the studio) has not given you permission to duplicate the movie.
- You copy a song from a CD you own and send the file to a friend using an instant messenger program. Show answer
It's not a violation to make a backup copy of a song you legally purchased, but it IS a violation of the DMCA to share that copy with a friend.
- You join iTunes and purchase five songs to download to your computer. You then burn them to a CD to listen to in your car. Show answer
This does not violate the author's copyright. iTunes is one example of a legal file-sharing network. You actually purchase the right to the file from iTunes. According to iTunes Terms of Agreement, You shall be authorized to use the Products only for personal, noncommercial use. You shall be authorized to use the Products on five Apple-authorized devices at any time. You shall be entitled to export, burn or copy Products solely for personal, noncommercial use. In accordance with the terms of agreement, it is not a violation of the DMCA to burn the songs to a CD in this example.
- You copy a CD you own into MP3 files and post them on a file sharing network for your friends to download. Show answer
Again, it violates the copyright to share copyrighted files with others (even if you own a legal version of the work).
- You pay a membership fee to join a file sharing network and then download material. Show answer
This is a tricky one. You need to make sure that you read the terms of agreement for whatever file-sharing network you are using. For example, Kazaa offers a program called KazaaPro. Kazaa's free version includes spyware, but the Pro version does not. However, even when using KazaaPro most of the copyright material on the network is still illegal to download.
A Simple Rule of Thumb
A simple rule of thumb to help you identify which materials are protected by copyright and which are not: If you would typically pay for it, then it is probably protected. If it's a movie from the theatre, a DVD or a tape, then it is probably protected. If it is a song from the radio or one that you would buy at a music store, then it is probably protected.
In addition to University penalties, copyright violations may carry heavy civil and criminal penalties. For example, civil penalties include damages and legal fees. The minimum fine is $750 per downloaded file. Criminal penalties, even for first-time offenders, can be stiff: up to $250,000 in fines and five years in prison.
Unless served with a subpoena as required under the DMCA, the University does not release the names of (or any personal information about) subscribers in the process of servicing a DMCA notice.
For more information on the DMCA, visit one of the following Web sites:
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