Copyright Compliance

Departments and web page authors need to be aware of how intellectual property laws, regulations, and policies apply to the online environment. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act provides for a limitation of liability for infringement of copyright laws by users of computing resources at institutions of higher education.

The TEACH Act expands scope of works educators may perform and display in distance education setting.

The Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) includes provisions that are designed to reduce the illegal uploading and downloading of copyrighted works through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing.

When the college is notified that someone on the college network is distributing a copyrighted file without authorization, federal law requires us to take immediate action to prevent legal sanctions. Copyright infringement is an explicit violation of the College Code of Academic Ethics.

For students, the College Committee on Ethics and Conduct has jurisdiction over these cases and students are afforded due process rights under the college judicial system. A college employee who illegally shares files on an institutional computer is referred to his or her supervisor for appropriate action; if the behavior is repeated, the director of human resources is informed.

In addition to campus sanctions, a copyright holder may pursue legal action.

Hudson Valley Community College has designated a Copyright Officer to receive faculty inquiries, statutory notices from copyright owners about infringements and to send statutory notices to affected subscribers:

Valerie Waldin
Library-Hudson Valley Community College
80 Vandenburgh Avenue
Troy, NY 12180
Phone: (518) 629-7319
Email: copyrightofficer@hvcc.edu

More Information

For more information on copyrights and publishing, please contact Valerie Waldin at (518) 629-7319 or copyrightofficer@hvcc.edu, or refer to the following sites: