Mason Ahead of National Regulation to Protect Copyright on Campus
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New federal regulations went into effect July 1 regarding the enforcement of copyright infringement on college campuses. (MikeBlogs Creative Commons image, adapted for C2M)
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UPDATED 1:48 a.m.
The soundtrack and video queues of college students across the country will face new regulation when students return to campus this fall, but Mason students won’t notice a change.
A provision of the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, which went into effect on July 1, mandates colleges and universities help to slow the spread of illegal file sharing over campus computer networks by implementing some kind of deterrent or risk losing federal aid funding.
Mason’s copyright policy has existed since at least 2002, well before the law required action, said Claudia Holland, head of Mason’s Copyright Resource Office.
The university’s Responsible Use of Computing policy, which is the guiding principle for copyright on campus, says violating copyright and licensing law is a forbidden activity on the campus network.
When dealing with matters of copyright and potential violations, Holland said Mason uses an educational process opposed to a disciplinary process.
“Generally students are not aware that they are violating copyright,” Holland said. “Many people think material on the Internet is just free to use because it’s so accessible and they don’t think about the repercussions.”
From January through May of 2009 Mason received 1,216 copyright infringement notices, a number Holland said is not unusual for a university like Mason.
When the university receives a copyright infringement notice from a media industry organization like the Recoding Industry Association of America, the Copyright Resource Office identifies the responsible student and sends the student a letter notifying them of the potential infringement and the applicable copyright laws.
If the university receives a second infringement notice for the same student, a meeting is held with the student to assess the situation and to provide additional information about the laws.
Mason does not share the student’s identifying information with the media industry unless subpoenaed to do so. The university has never been subpoenaed for that information in relation to a copyright issue, according to Holland.
The new law regarding copyright on university campuses is fairly flexible, Holland said, and there are other ways for universities to deal with copyright infringement, but Mason holds to their education policy.
“We don’t prevent the use of file sharing software all together, because there are legal uses for it,” Holland said. “Individuals need to take responsibility for their own actions.”
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