This site has been set up to help you understand copyright laws and policies as they apply to digital materials here at U.Va. We're here to help you understand the University's commitment to protecting lawful copyrights, the administrative process used to handle infringement cases, and ways you can protect yourself from being involved unwittingly in illegal activities.
U.Va. takes copyright issues very seriously. If you download a song or a movie, a computer game or a software application in violation of its copyright, you're not just eating up large amounts of the University's network capacity - you're stealing. If you share those copyrighted materials with others, you're helping them to steal, too. Industry lawyers are beginning to target individuals who violate their copyrights - as evidenced by the recent lawsuit at Princeton University. You could be liable to huge fines - even jail time - if you infringe.