DMCA Notices: Instructions for Employees
If you have received notice of a DMCA copyright complaint
If you have received a notice of a DMCA copyright violation, this indicates that a copyright owner or agent has notified VCU that you are violating their copyright by downloading, sharing, or copying media. VCU does not monitor for these violations, however, we will launch an internal investigation to track the source of the alleged violation. Because you have received this notice, you have been identified as the source of the violation and must remove the offending media.
How Will I Recognize the DMCA Notice?
The notices will be very similar and will be sent via email from sender “dmcaagent <at> vcu.edu”
This email will include details regarding copyright infringement including the IP address, Hostname, MAC (Media Access Control) Address of the offender, date/time, and the copyright infringed work. A copy of this email will also be sent to your department head or department chair.
What do I do next?
To satisfy the requirements of the DMCA, you must complete the following steps:
- Remove the infringed copyrighted material from your computer. If you cannot locate the copyrighted material on your computer, please reply back to VCU DMCA Agent and they will direct you to resources that can help assist.
- We strongly recommend removing or disabling any P2P programs (E.g. Bittorrent software) from your computer.
- You must REPLY to our email within 3 business days. In most cases, you should reply to the email we sent with the statement “I have ceased the unauthorized sharing of copyrighted material from my computer.”. If you believe that this notice was sent in error, you can file a Counter-Notice. Please consult the counter-notice document that is sent as an attachment in the initial email.
- If you do not reply within 3 business days, your access to VCU Network will be disconnected.
Please be aware that regardless of the actions VCU takes, the copyright owner can still pursue legal actions against you. Even though you may be unaware that your activity was illegal or someone else is using your wireless account or your computer, you are still responsible for the network activity associated with your account. If you don’t know how to protect your device from malware/viruses, please review some of our helpful tips.
Counter-Notification
If you are confident that you are legally using the copyrighted material or the copyright owner has misidentified the material, you can file a counter-notice. The counter-notice steps are outlined as an attachment to the original violation email. In most cases, it is highly unlikely you should file a counter-notification. To complete the counter-notice, please follow the steps outlined in the attachment located in the initial email.