Copyrighted Materials Unauthorized Distribution

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Alaska Career College strives to provide access to varied materials, services and equipment for students, faculty and staff and does not knowingly condone policies or practices that constitute an infringement of Federal copyright law. Transmitting or downloading any material that you do not have the right to make available and that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party is prohibited.

Installing or distributing pirated or unlicensed software is also forbidden. Violation of these requirements may subject students, faculty and staff to civil and criminal liabilities. Students, faculty or staff who violates federal copyright law do so at their own risk. Copyright status is applied to a work as soon as it is created. Users should assume that all writings and images are copyrighted.

Title 17 of the United States Code (17 USC §501 et seq.) outlines remedies for copyright infringement that may include some or all of the following: obtaining an injunction to stop the infringing activity; impounding and disposing of the infringing articles; an award to the copyright owner of actual damages and the profits of the infringer, or in the alternative, an award of statutory damages which may be increased if the infringement is found to be willful; an award of two times the amount of the license fee a copyright owner could have gotten; an award of the full costs incurred in bringing an infringement action, and the award of attorney’s fees; and for criminal copyright infringement, fines and imprisonment.

Alaska Career College maintains a campus network to support and enhance the academic and administrative needs of our students, faculty and staff. Alaska Career College is required by Federal Law – H.R. 4137 to make an annual disclosure informing students that illegal distribution of copyrighted materials may lead to civil and/or criminal penalties. Alaska Career College takes steps to detect and punish users who illegally distribute copyrighted materials.

Alaska Career College reserves the right to suspend or terminate network access to any campus user that violates this policy and Network access may be suspended if any use is impacting the operations of the network. Violations may be reported to appropriate authorities for criminal or civil prosecution.

The existence and imposition of sanctions do not protect members of the campus community from any legal action by external entities.

Alternatives to Illegal Downloading

Illegal downloads hurt artists and deter the incentive to create. U.S. laws protect the rights of individuals regarding their own works. There are websites that offer free or inexpensive products that you can use without violating copyright law.