All Concordia University Chicago students, faculty, and staff are expected to comply with copyright law.

Copyright Violation

Unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material, including unauthorized peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, may subject you to federal civil and criminal liabilities in addition to being a violation of the Student Code of Conduct and Information Technology Resources Policy. Unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material, including unauthorized P2P file sharing, may subject you to civil and criminal liabilities. The liabilities include: 

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.

Technology-Based Deterrents

CUC complies with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) and attempts to identify alleged copyright infringers. When CUC receives a DMCA notification of a copyright violation, the university will:

  • Independently validate the legitimacy of the complaint.
  • Suspend the offending user’s network access.
  • Students are referred to the Office of the Dean of Students and will be required to complete training on copyright law before regaining access to the network.
  • Provide a response to the notification.

Legal Sources of Content

Today many sites and services allow legal downloading of music, movies, and software either free of charge or for a subscription. To aid your search for legal resources, visit this list of Legal Sources of Online Content maintained by EDUCAUSE or ask a librarian.

Annual Notification

CUC provides the student population with a copyright notice once per year. The notice informs students of the broad consequences of copyright violation, CUC’s deterrents, and legal sources of content.