Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Implementation at PSU.

This documents Plymouth State University's procedures for compliance with the sections of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), enacted in 1988, that deal with online copyright infringement liability limitation. Complete copies of the U.S. copyright law, incorporating the DMCA provisions, are online as Acrobat PDF format ( 1.42 MB) and as text format and a complete copy of the DMCA Act ( 321 KB) itself is available. See also the Copyright Office's subsequent required studies are available online. A directory of agents is maintained by the U.S. Copyright Office.

PSU's DMCA Agent. The designated College Agent to receive written claims of copyright infringement under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act is: 

Kenneth Kochien
DMCA Officer - Assistant Director of Information Technology Services
MSC #28
Plymouth State University
Plymouth NH  03264

FAX: 603-535-2263

Reporting Claims of Infringement

A written notification of claimed infringement must be sent to the PSU Agent from the alleged copyright owner (Complaining Party) that includes substantially the following:

1. A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the Complaining Party. As an electronic signature the University will accept FAX or a digitized image of the signature attached to e-mail.
2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed.
3. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or disabled., including information reasonably sufficient to permit the University to locate the material. For example, include the URL.
4. Information reasonably sufficient to permit the University to contact the Complaining Party, such as address, telephone number, and e-mail address.
5. A statement that the Complaining Party has a good faith belief that the use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
6. A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the Complaining Party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Counter Notification of Replacement.
The User may provide a counter notification to the Agent, responding to the notification from the Complaining Party. A counter notification must be a written communication provided to the Agent that includes substantially the following:

1. A physical or electronic signature of the subscriber.
2. Identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled and the location at which the material appeared before it was removed or access to it was disabled.
3. A statement under penalty of perjury that the User has a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled.
4. The User's name, address, and telephone number, and a statement that the User consents to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court for the judicial district in which the address is located, or if the User's address is outside the United States, for any judicial district in which the University may be found and that the User will accept service of process from the person who provided notification or an agent of such person.
 

Once the complaining party receives the User's claim, the DMCA permits the University to restore materials or access within two weeks -- unless the Complaining Party serves notice that it intends to seek a court order to restrain infrinigement. University policy may mandate for other reasons that materials or access not be restored, and some other investigation may proceed.

The DMCA does not alter the fair use provision of the fair use provisions of U.S. copyright law. See the University of New Hampshire's primer and recommended procedures.

Resources on Copyrights, Fair Use and Intellectual Property.

For additional reading on intellectual property issues, and copyright in particular, see these online resources.

• Bitlaw on technology law.
• Digital Millennium Copyright Act at EDUCAUSE.
• Intellectual property law at www.intelproplaw.com
• Univerisy of NH Primer on Copyright Law and Recommended Procedures.
• U.S. Copyright Office.
• include with this letter paper copies of those documents indicated in bold.  However, please note that all documents have a number of active Web links, so people may wish to visit the online site.

1. The Electronic Challenge for Copyright Law (6 pages)
     http://www.utsystem.edu/OGC/IntellectualProperty/chalenge.htm
2. UT System Crash Course in Copyright
     http://www.utsystem.edu/OGC/IntellectualProperty/cprtindx.htm
3. UT System Digital Library: Copyright Tutorial
     http://www.lib.utsystem.edu/copyright/
4. UT System Comprehensive Copyright Policy (summary)
      http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/IntellectualProperty/cprtpol.htm
5. Copyright and the University Community: Implementing a Comprehensive
    Copyright Policy, A Presentation for University Administrators (14 pages)
     http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/IntellectualProperty/admin3.htm
6. Fair Use of Copyrighted Materials (16 pages)  [not enclosed here because of length]
     -- includes separate �Fair Use Rules of Thumb� for: coursepacks, distance learning,
        image archives, multimedia works, music, research copies, reserves
     http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/IntellectualProperty/copypol2.htm

Origional Page Content by Jim Cerney, UNH Modified for PSU purposes.