Tooele Technical College (TTECH) recognizes and respects intellectual property rights and is committed to fulfilling our moral and legal obligations with respect to the use of copyright-protected works. Any sharing of copyrighted material without proper licensing or permission from the owner/author/software manufacturer is prohibited by law, and is not condoned by TTECH.

Summary of Civil and Criminal Penalties for Violation of Federal Copyright Laws

Copyright infringement is the act of exercising, without permission or legal authority, one or more of the exclusive rights granted to the copyright owner under section 106 of the Copyright Act (Title 17 of the United States Code). These rights include the right to reproduce or distribute a copyrighted work. In the file sharing context, downloading or uploading substantial parts of a copyrighted work without authority constitutes an infringement.

Penalties for copyright infringement include civil and criminal penalties. In general, anyone found liable for civil copyright infringement may be ordered to pay either actual damages or “statutory” damages affixed at not less than $750 and not more than $30,000 per work infringed. For “willful” infringement, a court may award up to $150,000 per work infringed. A court can, in its discretion, also assess costs and attorneys’ fees. For details, see Title 17, United States Code, Sections 504, 505.

Willful copyright infringement can also result in criminal penalties, including imprisonment of up to five years and fines of up to $250,000 per offense. For more information, please see the website of the U.S. Copyright Office at (www.copyright.gov).

Any file sharing allowing computing devices to upload/download information from any other computing device is also a violation of TTECH’s Computer Resources Acceptable Use Agreement.

All employees and students are subject to the TTECH's Computer Resources Acceptable Use Agreement and subject to disciplinary action should the policy be violated.

In the event that an employee or student is suspected of copyright infringement, a report will be submitted to the Vice President of Finance and Operations (employee violation) or to the Vice President of Student Services (student violation) for further investigation and/or appropriate action. Violations of copyright infringement may result in suspension or revocation of any or all computer privileges and/or disciplinary actions in addition to the civil and criminal penalties described above.

For more information, please see the Web site of the U.S. Copyright Office at www.copyright.gov, especially their FAQ's at www.copyright.gov/help/faq.