Copyright is a form of protection for intellectual property established by the laws of the United States (Title 17, United States Code, Sec. 101, et seq.) to protect the rights of the creators of original works. These works include, but are not limited to, literary, dramatic musical, artistic, and multimedia works. Copyright protection extends to both published and unpublished works and covers all forms of the work, including its digital transmission and use.
Copyrighted works include the following broad categories:
Literary works
Musical works, including accompanying words
Dramatic works, including accompanying music
Pantomimes and choreographic works
Pictorial and graphical works
Sculptural works
Motion pictures and other audiovisual works
Sound recordings in all formats
Architectural works
Photographs
Museum reproductions of paintings or other works of art
Wagner College is committed to the protection of intellectual property and believes in the importance of the Fair Use provisions of the Copyright Law that allow limited use of copyright material without prior permission from the copyright holder. Balancing property rights and fair use is the responsibility of every member of the Wagner College community. It is also our responsibility to practice due diligence in respect to copyright protections. We must take every reasonable precaution to avoid infringing on the intellectual property of others. It is the responsibility of all students, faculty and staff at Wagner College to understand and comply with copyright law.
A basic primer on copyright law can be found on the website for the United States Copyright Office http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ21.pdf.
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf, signed into law in 1998, recognizes that the digital transmission of works adds complexity to the copyright law. The DMCA provides non-profit educational institutions with some protections if individual members of the community violate the law. However, for Wagner College to maintain this protection, we must immediately remove from our website or otherwise block access to infringing material whenever it is found, and whether or not the individual has received a notice.
