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Copyright Information

Procedures for Notification of Copyright Infringement Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act

Designated Agent to Receive Notices

Smith College has registered the following agent with the Copyright Office:

Ben Marsden
Information Security Director
Stoddard Hall Room 12
Smith College
Northampton, MA 01063
Phone: 413-585-2618
Email: bmarsden@smith.edu

Notice and Take-down Procedure

Written notification of allegedly infringing work must be sent to the college's agent at the above address. The notice must include ALL of the following:

  1. A physical or digital signature of the owner of an exclusive copyright right (i.e., the copyright owner himself or the owner's exclusive licensee of the right(s) to reproduce, distribute, display, perform or create derivatives) or the owner's authorized agent;
  2. A description of the works claimed to be infringed;
  3. A description of the allegedly infringing works, sufficient to enable the agent to find them;
  4. Sufficient information to enable the agent to contact the complainer;
  5. A statement that the complainer believes in good faith that the use of the material is not authorized by the owner, the owner's agent or the law; and
  6. A statement that the information in the notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that the complainer is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of one or more exclusive copyright rights.

Individuals who wish to submit a notice are referred to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act Section 512 (c) (3) (A) (for notices alleging that content infringes) or Section 512 (d) (3) (for notices that allege that information location tools such as links contribute to infringement of a work).

The college's agent will review the notification to be sure it substantially conforms to the statutory requirements. If the notice substantially conforms, the agent will take reasonable steps to notify the page owner of the allegation of infringement and secure voluntary take-down of the work or disable access to the work.

If the notice fails substantially to conform, but the problems are with requirements 1, 5 or 6 above, the agent will contact the complainer and try to obtain the missing information. If the complainer provides substantially conforming information, the agent will notify the page owner of the allegation of infringement and secure voluntary take-down of the work or disable access to the work.

If the notice is nonconforming with respect to requirements 2, 3 or 4, or if the complainer does not respond to the agent's request for additional information, the agent will ignore the notice. The agent will archive the notice along with a copy of any correspondence attempting to obtain additional information.

Counter-notification Procedure

After the page owner voluntarily takes down the page or the college's agent disables access to it, the college or the page owner may decide to proceed to counter-notification.

Counter-notices can only claim: (1) that the copyright owner is mistaken and that the work is lawfully posted or (2) that the work has been misidentified. A page owner may assert that a use of another's work qualifies as a fair use and so the copyright owner is "mistaken" in characterizing it as infringing.

Counter-notices must contain ALL of the following:

  1. A physical or digital signature of the page owner;
  2. A description of the material removed and its location before it was removed;
  3. A statement that the page owner believes in good faith that the material was removed by mistake or because it was misidentified;
  4. The page owner's name, address and phone number and his or her consent to jurisdiction of the Federal District Court for that address or any Federal District Court if the address is foreign; and
  5. A statement that the page owner will accept service of process from the complainer.

The page owner must send the counter notification to the college's agent who will:

  1. Promptly send a copy of any substantially conforming counter-notice to the complainer indicating that the college will restore access in 10 business days; and
  2. Restore access to the allegedly infringing work within 10 to 14 business days after the day the agent receives the counter-notice, unless the agent first receives a notice from the complainer that he or she has filed an action seeking a court order to restrain the page owner.

If the agent receives notice that the complainer has filed an action seeking a court order to restrain the page owner, the agent will:

  1. Not repost the allegedly infringing work while court action is pending;
  2. Forward the notice to the page owner; and
  3. Forward the notice to the appropriate college administrator (the Provost/Dean of the Faculty if the page owner is a faculty member, the Dean of the College if the page owner is a student, or the Vice President for Finance and Administration if the page owner is a staff member).