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Digital Copyright and DMCA

The University of North Florida (UNF) takes copyright violation seriously. As an online service provider, it is UNF's responsibility to respond quickly and effectively to all reports of copyright infringement by our users, on our networks, or on web sites hosted by our system. UNF has designated an agent to receive notifications of claimed copyright infringement. Please forward any claims of copyright infringement on our UNF computer networks or on web sites hosted by our UNF system to dmca-agent@unf.edu

DMCA Takedown Notice

A DMCA Takedown Notice is a legal notification from a copyright holder or their representatives instructing the recipient to remove or make unavailable the copyright protected work cited. UNF typically receives DMCA Takedown Notices through email. Notifications must contain the following elements to be valid:

  1. A physical or electronic signature of an authorized representative of the copyright holder of the allegedly infringed content
  2. Identification of the specific copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed
  3. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing with sufficient detail to allow the service provider to locate the material that is to be removed or made inaccessible
  4. Information sufficient to allow the service provider to contact the complaining party
  5. A statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that the use of the material is not authorized by the copyright owner
  6. A statement that the information provided is accurate, and that under the penalty of perjury that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the copyright protected materials owner.

In most cases, the key identifier of the alleged infringer is a combination of IP address, timestamp, and a description of the copyrighted material found including any evidence.

University Procedure:

  1. IT Security receives the DMCA takedown notice from the agent mailbox.
  2. IT Security then verifies and validates the claimed infringement. If the request is missing information or full details, additional details from the complainant are gathered.
  3. Evidence is logged in a local DMCA tracking application and a UNF incident is created.
  4. The reported device is blocked from the network until the user responds to the agent with evidence of full removal of the content. If no user can be identified on the reported device, the device will remain blocked.
    1. Repeat offenders are reported to student conduct (student) or human resources (employee/staff) for further disciplinary action including termination and other legal action.
  5. The DMCA agent responds to the complainant to close out the incident.

Security tips:

  • Do not publish any copyrighted material without obtaining permission from the copyright holder or their representative.
  • Disable peer-to-peer (p2p) software on all devices before connecting to the university network.
  • Adhere to all ITS Policies before connecting to the university network.