Skip to content

Copyright Infringement

Copyright Infringement


Please read this important notice.

Sharing Copyrighted Material Can Get You in Legal Trouble
Peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing of copyrighted material is unlawful under US copyright law.  If you use P2P networks like Limewire, e-Donkey, Bit-torrent, Ares, etc to share copyrighted music, movies, TV programs, video games, and other content, you are in violation of Federal copyright law and may be subject to civil and criminal legal penalties.  Civil penalties vary, but are a minimum of $750 per song for copyrighted music.  Criminal penalties could be as much as 5 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines. 

Other Dangers of Peer-to-peer File-sharing
P2P programs share some or all of the files and folders on your computer, potentially exposing your personal files and information to anyone using that program.  Music, movies and other files downloaded using P2P software are often infected with viruses and other malware designed to steal information or take control of your computer.

Copyright Notices
The College receives copyright notices from rights-holders and industry groups for file-sharing activities.  These notices mean that a rights-holder has detected your computer sharing material they own.  If you continue to illegally share copyrighted material, you may be sued or criminally prosecuted.  You may also have disciplinary action taken by the College for violating its policies.

Legal Ways to Get Music and Other Content
Avoid engaging in unlawful file-sharing that could put you at serious legal risk.  There are many legal sites to get access to music, movies, and TV programs, including: 

Music

Movies & TV Programs 

AmazonMP3

ABC.com

AOL  Music

Amazon Video on Demand

Emusic

Blockbuster Online

iTunes

Hulu

Napster.com

iTunes

Pandora

NBC Video

Yahoo! Music

Netflix