Understanding the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)
Background
The distribution of copyrighted materials without permission
(over the internet) can be a violation of federal law. The law is known as
the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 ("DMCA"). Much of the
music, movies, video, or games that are downloaded via file sharing networks
like Kazaa, Gnutella, iMesh, Grokster, and eDonkey, are distributed without
the permission of the copyright owner, and thus these downloads are illegal.
The federal government and various organizations (such as the Recording Industry
Association of America, RIAA) are very serious about enforcing the provisions
of the DMCA legislation, and violations can carry stiff fines and potential
jail sentences.
What Should UCR Students, Staff, and Faculty Do?
What is the best approach to deal with this issue? Very
simply, do not download or distribute copyrighted materials without appropriate
permissions. And secondly, if you wish to download copyrighted material, find
out how to acquire it legally and take appropriate steps to ensure your computer
is not used for illegal file sharing.
Helpful Hints
Understanding the Internet and downloading of music and video's can be a challenge. To learn more about "Protecting yourself. Doing It Legally" please view this very helpful and short video. If you have a specific question about downloading legally, please view these helpful FAQs or email your questions to Larry.McGrath@ucr.edu.
Click here to read the October 2006 memo sent to all UCR students concerning this issue.
Click here to read the October 2005 memo sent to all UCR students concerning this issue.
Click here to read the May 2005 memo sent to all UCR students concerning this issue.
Click here to read the January
2005 memo sent to all UCR students concerning this issue.
Click here to read the September
2003 memo sent to all UCR students, staff, and faculty concerning this issue.