Portland Community College (PCC) is committed to compliance with copyright law and the preservation of the rights of copyright owners and users of copyrighted materials. The College requires PCC faculty, staff and students to observe federal law regarding the use of copyrighted material. For more information, see the Copyright Law of the United States of America and PCC Policy on Student Conduct .
PCC will remove or disable materials on its domain that are identified as violating copyright by the copyright owner or his/her agent. The College will make reasonable efforts to notify the faculty, staff and or student responsible.
The College seeks to ensure that the members of the College community know their rights and responsibilities under the fair use provisions of the Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. Section 107), and are able to apply them regarding their use of copyrighted works.
Portions of this statement were adapted from the University of Minnesota’s "Libraries: Policy and Principles on Fair Use" which is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License. Revised February 17, 2017. Adopted by the PCC Copyright Committee May, 2010.
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
