Copyright Infringement Policy
Copyright Infringement Policy and Sanctions
Copyrighted Works
Northeast recognizes the importance of protecting the owner’s copyright to printed material, music, electronic data, and images. Duplicating materials by any means must adhere to the Copyright Law of the United States of America, Title 17 of the U.S. Code, and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. For assistance in determining the applicability of copyright law to a specific project, employees should contact the Head Librarian in the college library.
Copyright Notice
The following notice should be posted at all duplicating machines on campus:
Copying, displaying, and distributing copyrighted works may infringe the owner’s copyright. Any use of a computer or duplicating facilities by students, faculty, or staff for infringing use of copyrighted works is subject to appropriate disciplinary action and those civil remedies and criminal penalties provided by federal law. Title 17 of the U.S. Code can help you determine whether your use of a copyrighted work may be an infringement.
Lab Books and Other Materials
Lab books and other types of materials, whether printed or electronic, duplicated for sale in the bookstore must be either original material or must have current authorization for the use of the material from the author on file in the Institutional Printing Office.
It is the responsibility of the individual faculty or staff member to learn about copyright and to make decisions concerning copyright materials.
A summary of the civil and criminal penalties for violation of Federal copyright laws is as follows:
- Infringer pays the actual dollar amount of damages and profits; or
- The law provides a range of $750 to $30,000 for each work infringed unless the court finds the infringement was willful. In such cases, the maximum penalty is increased to $150,000.
- The court may award attorneys’ fees and court costs.
- The court can issue an injunction to stop the infringing acts.
- The court can impound the illegal works.
- The infringer can be sent to jail for up to 10 years.
Individuals may obtain additional information about the copyright laws from https://www.copyright.gov.