CSUN's Choice of Response to Allegations of Digital Copyright Infringement

Title II of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (the "DMCA," amending Title 17 of the United States Code) provides procedures that may be used by an Internet Service Provider ("ISP") in dealing with claims of infringement. CSUN is an ISP for its own communities of students, faculty and staff and for others using the CSUN domain - signified by the address "csun.edu", “my.csun.edu”  or within the range of Internet protocol addresses assigned to CSUN.

The University will follow the following process if it receives a notice from a copyright owner alleging an infringement:

• The University will decide whether it is appropriate to use the DMCA-defined process.
• If the University qualifies for the DMCA-defined process, it will respond to the notice by giving notice to the owner of the page, taking down the allegedly infringing material.
• If the page owner files a counter-notification, the University will respond to the counter-notice and repost the material unless the complainer files an action to obtain a restraining order.
• If the University cannot or chooses not to use the DMCA process, it will respond the way it has responded to any allegation of infringement prior to passage of the DMCA.

Even if the University is eligible to use the DMCA-defined processes, which are entirely voluntary for both copyright owners and ISPs, there may be times when it will not use them, especially when alternatives will more quickly resolve the matter to the satisfaction of all parties. The University may use the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) process for handling allegations of copyright violations within the University's domain if it is acting as a content-neutral Internet service provider (ISP) and not as a content provider. The University assumes editorial responsibility for official CSUN websites and official CSUN on-line resources, which are defined as the official web pages or on-line materials of University schools, departments, divisions and other units. For these sites and resources, CSUN is the content provider and not a content-neutral ISP. You may also find within the CSUN domain - signified by the address "CSUN.edu" or within the range of Internet protocol addresses assigned to CSUN - websites or on-line materials over which the University has no editorial responsibility or control. Such sites include but are not limited to the Web pages or other on-line materials of individual faculty members or students, individual class sites and materials, and the Web pages or on-line materials of student organizations and other organizations not formally a part of the University. For these sites and materials, CSUN is a content-neutral ISP and may choose to use the DMCA process for handling copyright-infringement complaints.

The DMCA-defined processes involve the following steps on the part of the University:

The University will evaluate the notice to be sure it substantially conforms to the statutory requirements: The notice must have all of the following:

• 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;
• A description of the works claimed to be infringed;
• A description of the alleged infringing works, sufficient to enable the agent to find them;
• Sufficient information to enable the agent to contact the complainer;
• 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
• 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.

If the notice substantially conforms, the University will notify the user associated with the alleged infringement and will secure voluntary take-down of the work, block access to the work, and/or disable the user's access to CSUN's network.

If the notice fails to substantially conform, and the non-conformance rests with requirements 1, 5 or 6 above, the University may contact the copyright owner and attempt to get the necessary information. The University may do this by supplying the complainer with a copy of or a reference to 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).

If the complainer sends the remaining required information, the University will notify the user associated with the alleged infringement and secure voluntary take-down of the work, block access to the work, and/or  disable  the user's access to CSUN's network. 

If the complainer does not respond, or if the notice is nonconforming with respect to requirements 2, 3 or 4, the University may ignore the notice, but will retain it along with a copy of any correspondence attempting to obtain more information to demonstrate that the University did not receive a conforming notice and did what is required to try to get one.