In compliance with the Higher Education Opportunity Act, specifically with sections 485 and 487 of that legislation, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and Judson College strictly forbids the unauthorized duplication, use, and/or distribution of copyrighted materials, including music and video files, through peer-to-peer file sharing on the Southeastern network. These actions expose the student to consequential civil and criminal liabilities.
Summary of Civil and Criminal Penalties for Violation of Federal Copyright Laws:
Copyright infringement is the act of exercising, without permission or legal authority, one or more of the exclusive rights granted to the copyright owner under section 106 of the Copyright Act (Title 17 of the United States Code). These rights include the right to reproduce or distribute a copyrighted work. In the filesharing context, downloading or uploading substantial parts of a copyrighted work without authority constitutes an infringement. Penalties for copyright infringement include civil and criminal penalties. In general, anyone found liable for civil copyright infringement may be ordered to pay either actual damages or “statutory” damages affixed at not less than $750 and not more than $30,000 per work infringed. For “willful” infringement, a court may award up to $150,000 per work infringed. A court can, in its discretion, also assess costs and attorneys’ fees. For details, see Title 17, United States Code, Sections 504, 505. Willful copyright infringement can also result in criminal penalties, including imprisonment of up to five years and fines of up to $250,000 per offense. For more information, please see the website of the U.S. Copyright Office at (www.copyright.gov).
Southeastern Seminary currently employs an enterprise-class Sonicwall security device for the analysis of inbound and outbound network traffic. Access to peer-to-peer file sharing is blocked as much as possible by Sonicwall. If excessive uploading is detected, the Information Technology (IT) Department will seek to identify the end user’s system, and notify the user of the issue and possible causes. If contact cannot be made with the system owner, the data connection will be severed until the owner can be reached.
Students involved in peer-to-peer file sharing of which they are not copyright owners are in violation of Southeastern copyright policy and can potentially be subject to a lawsuit by the copyright holder under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Infringing on copyrights is against federal law. Failure to obey copyright laws may result in an FBI investigation and/or prosecuting alleged violations. If a student is served a subpoena, Southeastern will comply with the terms of the subpoena. You are responsible for understanding what constitutes legal use of music, movies, software, images, and other copyright works that you own or use. Student action involved in peer-to-peer file sharing or the unauthorized duplication, use, and/or distribution of copyrighted materials could result in the consequences of loss of privileges to use Southeastern networks and computer systems, possible probation, suspension, or expulsion, and/or can be consigned to law enforcement.
The illegal download of copyrighted materials results in major consequences. However, there are some free legal alternatives for downloading materials. See the list below:
- Hulu: hulu.com
- iTunes: apple.com/itunes
- Last.fm: last.fm
- Netflix: netflix.com
- Pandora: pandora.com
- Spotify Student: spotify.com/student
- YouTube: youtube.com