Sharing Copyrighted Material Can Get You in Legal Trouble
Peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing of copyrighted material is unlawful under US copyright
law. If you use P2P networks like Limewire, e-Donkey, Bit-torrent, Ares, etc to share copyrighted
music, movies, TV programs, video games, and other content, you are in violation of
Federal copyright law and may be subject to civil and criminal legal penalties. Civil penalties vary, but are a minimum of $750 per song for copyrighted music. Criminal
penalties could be as much as 5 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines.
Other Dangers of Peer-to-peer File-sharing
P2P programs share some or all of the files and folders on your computer, potentially
exposing your personal files and information to anyone using that program. Music,
movies and other files downloaded using P2P software are often infected with viruses
and other malware designed to steal information or take control of your computer.
Copyright Notices
The College receives copyright notices from rights-holders and industry groups for
file-sharing activities. These notices mean that a rights-holder has detected your
computer sharing material they own. If you continue to illegally share copyrighted
material, you may be sued or criminally prosecuted. You may also have disciplinary
action taken by the College for violating its policies.
Legal Ways to Get Music and Other Content
Avoid engaging in unlawful file-sharing that could put you at serious legal risk.
There are many legal sites to get access to music, movies, and TV programs, including:
Music:
Amazon MP3
AOL Music
Emusic
Apple iTunes
Pandora
Napster.com
Yahoo!Music
Movies & TV Programs:
ABC.com
Amazon Prime & Video on Demand
Hulu
Apple iTunes
NBC Video
NetFlix
