Get the facts, so you don’t get the fines!

There are a lot of misconceptions as to what actually constitutes a copyright violation and the realities of doing so. To avoid breaking federal copyright law (and the subsequent financial and legal consequences) get the all of the facts on DMCA.

As an MU student, if you are caught copying and sharing copyright materials without permission on the university network, you will be subject to consequences outlined by their policies. Violations of federal copyright law can also result in a minimum fine of $750 per downloadable file. Those found in criminal violation, even first time offenders, can face a maximum fine of $250,000 and five years in prison.

Definitely not the worth the risk for a few free songs – pay the $1.29 and avoid jail time!

Federal copyright law not only protects music and movies from being illegal accessed or shared. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1988 (DMCA) considers the following acts to be in violation:

  1. Somebody emails copyright material to you and, in turn, you forward it to one or more friends.
  2. You make an audio file (such as MP3) copy of a song that you bought (purchasers are expressly permitted to do so) but subsequently, make the audio file(s) available on the Internet using a file-sharing network.
  3. You join a file-sharing network and download unauthorized copies of copyright material you want from the computers of other network members.
  4. To gain access to copyrighted material on computers of other network members, you pay a fee to join a file-sharing network that is not authorized to distribute or make copies of the copyright material. You then download unauthorized material.
  5. You transfer copyrighted material using an instant messaging service.
  6. You have a computer with a CD/DVD burner that you use to burn copies or music or movies you have downloaded onto writable media and then distribute those to your friends.

For more information on DMCA check out: https://doit.missouri.edu/about/policies-procedures/digital-millennium-copyright-act/

— April 21, 2017