UCLA students accused of illegal file sharing by copyright holders can be sued for copyright infringement. Recently, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) began making early settlement offers to those they would otherwise sue: if the student accepts the offer, he or she will typically pay $3,000 to $5,000. If the offer is not accepted, the RIAA will go ahead and file suit. In either case, if you have been so affected, you should take these matters extremely seriously and seek legal counsel. There are many factors to consider in deciding upon a course of action.

The information below answers many of the questions we receive from students about our role with respect to the discovery and reporting of illegal file sharing activity.

Copyright holders have a variety of options open to them when they believe they have found an individual violating their copyright through illegal file sharing.

• They can send a claim of copyright infringement to the alleged infringer’s Internet Service Provider. For UCLA students living on campus, they will send the claim to UCLA’s DMCA Designated Agent, and we follow the procedure that’s documented at http://resnet.ucla.edu/dmcaprocess_letter.html.
• They can sue the alleged infringer. In this situation, a subpoena would be issued to UCLA to identify the network user in question in order to file the lawsuit.
• They can offer to settle instead of filing a lawsuit. In this situation, an early settlement offer letter would be sent to UCLA with a request to pass it on to the student in question. At this time, it is the University of California’s policy to pass on such letters to the students involved.

Claims, subpoenas and early settlement offer letters are sent to UCLA rather than directly to an individual because the technology used by copyright holders to identify alleged infringers can only identify IP addresses – unique Internet addresses for computers – and only UCLA can take a UCLA IP address and map it to the corresponding computer and individual. This is true for any Internet Service Provider and their respective IP addresses. However, only copyright holders are monitoring for alleged infringement; UCLA is not doing the monitoring.

The copyright holders are solely responsible for deciding whom they wish to pursue for alleged infringement of their copyright, by what means and when. They can choose to sue individuals without sending a prior claim of infringement that would initiate the UCLA administrative procedure giving a student a “warning”. They could send both, thus subjecting a student to both UCLA’s “take down” procedure and a lawsuit. We do not know upon what basis the RIAA or any other copyright holder makes these decisions.

UCLA complies with its legal obligations and this includes providing information subject to validly issued subpoenas. Our attorneys review each subpoena to verify that it is proper.

UCLA would typically receive a subpoena from a copyright holder seeking the identity of a network user it intends to sue. When such a subpoena is received – say from the RIAA (the Recording Industry Association of America) – the UCLA DMCA Designated Agent determines the identity of the user. When the user is a student, we will first notify the student that a subpoena has been received that seeks the student’s personal information (in compliance with UCLA Policy 220, ‘Disclosure of Information from Student Records’). If the student decides to object to the release of the information or files a motion to quash the subpoena, he or she must let us know within approximately a two-week period; otherwise we will release the information at the end of two weeks. No information will be released without a proper subpoena being received.

If your computer has ever had peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing software installed on it, it can be difficult to remove or disengage. Given the speed of networks today (including UCLA’s networks), files can be shared within seconds of P2P software starting up. File sharing can occur even without the user’s knowledge as many P2P programs share files on the Internet as a background task – or such software can be installed by friends or family without the computer owner’s knowledge. But if your computer is caught by copyright holders illegally sharing their materials, you are still likely responsible for what the computer was doing .

Fundamentally, this speaks to the need to keep your computer clean, whether with security tools like antivirus software or ensuring software you don’t want on your computer is removed. Safe computing takes more time than ever these days, what with so much spam and malware and security flaws in software, but as all students agree to, when living on campus, by signing the Housing contract, you are responsible for your computer and how it’s used. If you live on campus, the Student Technology Center’s $15 10 point computer tune-up can help keep your computer safe.

UCLA has a multi-pronged strategy to curb illegal file sharing primarily aimed at trying to educate the community and influence a permanent shift in behavior. Very briefly, the major components of our program include education (including annual letters, orientation talks, programs within the residential halls, dining hall table tents, and using claims of copyright infringement as a way to help prevent someone from repeating the behavior that got them there in the first place); policies and judicial process to fully comply with the law while ensuring due process and privacy within that framework; offering legal alternatives through our Get Legal initiative; and much advocacy work, often behind the scenes, both with legislators and with the entertainment industry. You may be interested to read the testimony of Jim Davis, UCLA’s Chief Information Officer, at a House Judiciary hearing on piracy on university networks held in March 2007; it provides a good description of the campus’s approach.

Server logs are kept primarily so that systems and network administrators are able to address problems in order to maintain the security, reliability and integrity of the network. The length of time these logs are kept is determined by such business need. There is no desire to keep logs longer than needed.

First, UCLA respects that students are adults. We try to do everything possible to create awareness so that they can make intelligent decisions and avoid illegal behavior, and to help guide them when something does goes wrong – like the “teachable moment” when a claim of copyright infringement is received. But once someone is sued, there is not much the University can do. That is something between the student and the initiator of the lawsuit. (Note that UCLA does have a Student Legal Services unit that can assist as personal attorneys in representing students during the academic year.)

Second, the University must balance many values and principles. Respect for copyright and intellectual property is a fundamental value for an institution that is all about such things. But so is respect for academic freedom, privacy and due process, all of which are factors in the illegal file sharing issue.

Finally, while many people are frustrated by copyright law as it is attempted to be adapted to the digital world we are now in, it is what it is: the law. If you do not like it we encourage you to learn about it and the many, many complex issues involved so that you can advocate for change – or become a lawmaker and change it. Some sites you can visit for information include the Electronic Frontier Foundation , Music United , The Heritage Foundation , Digital Medievalist .

The University cannot provide legal advice on early settlement letters or being sued. However, you can seek such advice through Student Legal Services from September – June; and if you have further questions about UCLA’s policies or procedures, you can contact Kenn Heller, Assistant Dean of Students, at kheller@saonet.ucla.edu or 310-206-8817.