Responsible Administrator(s):
Responsible Office(s):
Originally Issued: October 2011

Statement of Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to:

  • Ensure UNLV is in compliance with the copyright provisions in Section 487 of the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA), which requires that universities develop and implement "written plans to effectively combat the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material by users of the institution's network without unduly interfering with the educational and research use of the network."
  • Ensure UNLV is in compliance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

Entities Affected by this Policy

Entities affected by this policy include all UNLV students and employees.

Who Should Read this Policy

Students, faculty, employees, unit managers and supervisors, deans, directors, and department heads should read this policy.

Policy

Unless covered under the provisions of Fair Use, it is a violation of federal copyright laws to reproduce copyrighted material without permission of the copyright holder. Copyright law includes electronically stored materials such as music, movies and software. The university will investigate all digital and media copyright infringement complaints and take appropriate action.

NOTE: For additional UNLV policy regarding copyright see: https://www.unlv.edu/provost/copyright

Definitions

Copyright

As defined by U.S. Copyright Office – Circular 1 entitled “Copyright Basics” – “Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U. S. Code) to the authors of ‘original works of authorship,’ including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works.”

Fair Use

For additional information see: https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/ and http://www.copyright.gov/.