Williams’ Computing Ethics and Responsibilities require that we follow all applicable federal, state, and local laws, including laws pertaining to copyright. If you are looking for movies, music and other media, we recommend:
- The Williams College Libraries license amazing amounts of great content for learning and entertainment.
- Why Music Matters will help you find places to download, stream, or listen to music legally.
- Where to Watch allows you to search for legal sources of movies and TV shows.
Modern technology easily allows you to enjoy copyrighted video images, audio recordings and other digital materials. Unfortunately this could also make it possible to violate College policy and US copyright law. For this reason you should know the use of popular file sharing programs to download copyrighted music and video material, in many cases, places you in violation of College policy and U.S. law. Our library has more information about copyright.
The entertainment industry aggressively seeks copyright law violators
The College does not scan our network for illegal traffic in copyrighted material and cannot protect you from the legal recourse that exists for copyright holders. You also need to be acutely aware that law enforcement agencies, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and other copyright holders of digital media such as HBO, Universal Studios, the Business Software Alliance, and the Entertainment Software Association actively monitor the Internet for users who are distributing copyrighted material. The recording, film and software industries have become very aggressive in their active pursuit of copyright infringement. They invest heavily in the ability to search the Internet and identify unauthorized distribution of their protected titles.
How Williams College handles Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notices or early settlement letters
When Williams receives a copyright violation notice the Digital Millennium Copyright Act requires the college to take action. If you are accused of infringement, the College’s DMCA agent will send you an email notice. You must respond to this notification within 48 hours or your Williams College network access will be removed for one week. For subsequent offenses, your devices will be blocked from the Williams network. Students will be referred to the Dean of the College and disciplinary action will be likely. Graduate students will meet with the Director of their program. If you are a faculty or staff member, the Dean of the Faculty (for faculty) or your supervisor and department head (for staff) will be notified. You must inform the Chief Information Officer promptly that you have stopped sharing the offending files or your computers and other devices will remain off the Williams College network indefinitely.
The notice may include a settlement offer. You, as an individual, are responsible for any copyright infringement that might have resulted from illegal file sharing, so you will need to decide whether to pursue the settlement offer referred to in the notice. If you want legal advice on how to respond to this you need to contact your own attorney, the College cannot assist you in this matter.
File sharing programs also open up your computer to viruses and malware. You put yourself at risk for very damaging viruses that can render your computer unusable. We are increasingly seeing student computers incapacitated by malware picked up via file-sharing software. It can take a long time to clean an infected computer or you may have to pay for outside services.
Please keep in mind that you are responsible for all uses of your computer, and that network use by a computer can be traced to its registered owner.
Revised 5/25