Sul Ross State University
A Member of the Texas State University System
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SRSU Intellectual Property Rights PolicyAdopted December 3, 2002 I. Introduction The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) amends federal copyright law to provide certain liability protections for online service providers, when their computer systems or networks carry materials that violate (infringe) copyright law. To qualify for liability protection, the University is required to have a policy under which the computer accounts of users will be terminated if they repeatedly infringe the copyrighted works of others. The objectives of this policy are to minimize liability while also providing support for the activities of faculty and staff. In the context of copyright and other intellectual property, this means that the Chief Information Officer should be advised as soon as possible of any suspected infringement. As is feasible, the Chief Information Officer will work with the university content provider to establish any defenses. However, if there is inadequate information to provide a defense, or it appears that no defense exists, the best route to minimize university damages will be prompt removal of the allegedly infringing material. II. Policy Statement Compliance with federal copyright law is expected of all students, faculty and staff at Sul Ross State University. "Copyright" is legal protection for creative intellectual works, which is broadly interpreted to cover just about any expression of an idea. Text (including email and Web information), graphics, art, photographs, music, and software are examples of types of works protected by copyright. The creator of the work, or sometimes the person who hired the creator, is the initial copyright owner. You may "use" all or part of a copyrighted work only if (a) you have the copyright owner's permission (in writing, either e-mail or letter), or (b) you qualify for a legal exception (the most common exception is called "fair use"). "Use" of a work is defined for copyright purposes as copying, distributing, making derivative works, publicly displaying or publicly performing the work. Copying, distributing, downloading and uploading information on the Internet may infringe the copyright for that information. Even an innocent, unintentional infringement violates the law. Violations of copyright law that occur on or over the University's networks or other computer resources may create liability for the university as well as the computer user. Accordingly, repeat infringers are subject to the appropriate disciplinary review procedures as set in forth disciplinary policies for students, faculty or staff. Violations of law may also be referred for criminal or civil prosecution. The University has a legal duty to insure that official web sites, official email, and other official communications and expressions do not violate the intellectual property rights of third parties. The most common intellectual property rights found on the Internet involve copyright and trademark/service marks. "Official" web sites and communications include those that are funded or otherwise sponsored by the University for a university purpose, or which are created by an employee or agent of the University who is acting within the authorized scope of employment or agency on behalf of the university (e.g., posting course materials on the web for educational use of enrolled students). Removal of official university content, especially course materials, can be harmful to academic freedom, to teaching effectiveness, and to the University's educational mission. Therefore, faculty and staff are encouraged to secure copyright permission, a license, or a legal basis for use of someone else's intellectual property, before using the material. III. Procedures Notice and Counter Notice for material that may infringe on Intellectual Property Rights Notice: A copyright owner, or person acting for the owner, must provide the university's designated agent, the Chief Information Officer, with written notice that information residing on the university's computer systems or networks is an infringement of the copyright. The notice requirement also applies to information in system cache and to information location tools (e.g., hypertext links) that infringe copyright. [Note: if a person working for the university has independent knowledge of a copyright violation on a university computer system or network, the university may have a duty to remove the infringing material. This is true even if there is no "notice" from the copyright owner. Therefore that person should report the violation to the Chief Information Officer as soon as possible.] The university has "notice" of possible infringement when a third party advises a university official that there is an infringement, or when it appears to a university official that material is likely to be infringing based on the circumstances (e.g., copies of nationally syndicated cartoons appear on a university web site without any statement of copyright permission). When the university has notice of a possible intellectual property infringement in official university-provided content, it will in good faith:
Questions regarding this policy and notice of any possible infringement should be directed to:
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