Pacific Lutheran University students and employees are responsible for ensuring that all electronic files and software on their personal or university-owned computers are held in compliance with copyright law. Sharing or downloading copyrighted material (e.g., films, images, music) without purchase or other authorization is in violation of both federal law and PLU policy. Personally owned computers that use the PLU network to download or share copyrighted material without authorization are in violation of federal law and university policy.
When PLU is contacted by an agency (e.g., RIAA, MPAA) on behalf of a copyright holder that identifies a PLU student or employee who has downloaded or is illegally sharing copyrighted materials using a PLU network connection, the university must and does respond with a copyright infringement notice to the named party or network address. It is the responsibility of the student or employee to comply with federal law and university policy by removing the designated file(s). Subsequent notifications can lead to legal action by the complaining agency or to university sanctions, including but not limited to termination of network service.