The use of Computing Resources in violation of international and
federal copyright laws is strictly prohibited. These federal
laws provide to the author of an original work, whether that work
is a video, a sound recording, software, or printed material, the
exclusive rights to reproduce, adapt, publish, perform and display
that work. Anyone other than the copyright holder is required
to obtain the express permission of the copyright holder to use the
work for any of these purposes.
One prohibited use of the University's computing resources is
the use of the Internet to download and share copyrighted music and
video in violation of copyright laws. In addition to
violating University policy and the law, file-sharing programs
(such as Grokster, KazaA, Gnutella, and Limewire) that permit these
activities also may impair the University's broadband system
because their use causes a strain on the University's broadband
capabilities and other network resources. For these reasons,
the downloading, or making available for others to download, a
copyrighted movie, television show or sound recording without
permission of the copyright holder is a violation of University
policy. In furtherance of this policy, the University has,
and will continue, to create technologies to identify and disable
access to file-sharing websites that facilitate the violation of
applicable law and University policy. A listing of such sites
will be published on St. John's Central. In the event that
you desire to legally download any file that may strain the
University's broadband capabilities, please contact the Department
of Information Technology to arrange for a time and place to do
so.
Fair Use of Copyrighted
Material
Creation of web pages and other materials for educational and
research purposes may involve incorporation of original works of
third parties (e.g., printed material, video and sound recordings,
multimedia presentations, software) that are covered by copyright
laws. Copyright owners are granted five exclusive rights by the
copyright law: reproduction, adaption, publication, performance and
display.
These exclusive rights, however, are subject to the "Fair Use"
doctrine. "Fair Use" is a privilege of persons other than the
copyright owner to use the copyrighted material in a reasonable
manner without his/her consent notwithstanding the monopoly granted
to the owner by the copyright.
A finding of fair use is not easily determined. However, there
are four nonexclusive statutory factors to be considered in
determining whether a use is fair. They are:
- The purpose and character of the use, including whether the use
is for commercial purposes or for non-profit educational
purposes.
- The nature of the work, including whether the work is creative
or informational and published or unpublished.
- The amount used in relation to the work as a whole, considering
both quantitative and qualitative substantiality. No quantification
of use limits exists by statute.
- The effect of the use on the potential market for or the value
of the work. (The greater the effect on market or value, the
less the likelihood that the use will be fair.)
Developers of web pages are especially cautioned to recognize
that access to their pages by individuals from outside the
University community may impact one or more of the above factors.
Consistent with principles of fair use, authors are responsible for
obtaining all permissions that may be necessary to incorporate
works of third parties into their own work. The University
rules governing attribution require that all users of University
computing networks acknowledge any usage of ideas or materials
produced by others by identifying the source and nature/extent of
indebtedness.