DMCA Enforcement

The following procedures implement the University of Nevada, Reno's enforcement of the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. Other documents on this site implement other aspects of the DMCA. The following procedures, including use of the registered DMCA agent, should prove expedient to all concerned.

1. The University's registered DMCA agent shall receive all claims of infringement. Claims may come from inside or outside the university. The law requires such claims to contain certain information including location of infringement materials.
2. The DMCA agent shall promptly acknowledge receipt of each infringement claim. If the claim fails to comply in supplying information, the registered agent shall promptly attempt to contact the person making the notification or take other reasonable steps to assist in the receipt of notification that substantially complies.
3. The registered DMCA agent shall coordinate activities, keep records required to track repeat offenses, and assure proper adjudication of all incidents. The DMCA agent and those acting for and in conjunction with the DMCA agent shall:
   1. Protect rights of intellectual property owners as defined by law, university policy, and accepted standards of academic behavior;
   2. Protect rights and due process of those accused of infringement - particularly if Fair Use protection may apply;
   3. Generally support the authorized instruction, research, and service missions of the university; and
   4. Consult the UCCSN General Counsel when any question arises in pursuing the above.
4. Upon receipt of a complete claim of infringement, the registered agent shall direct prompt removal of material or removal of all local or wide area network access to the material or activity claimed to be infringing. The registered agent shall take steps to ensure this take-down will impact essential university activities as little as possible in effecting immediate compliance, and will arrange that university agents will promptly restore the material or activity, upon proper compliance with the terms of DMCA regarding Put Back procedures.
5. The registered university agent or the agent`s designee will take responsible steps to notify the subscriber/user promptly of the take-down. This notice will specify information required to make a counterclaim, and other information explaining applicable due process rights.
6. The University of Nevada, Reno may terminate access and exercise disciplinary and/or other correctional measures for any copyright infringement claim, including repeated claims and/or violations or flagrant misuse of the university`s information systems equipment or network connections and/or services.
7. All questions regarding this policy should be directed to the university's registered agent.

How to Report a Claim of Infringement

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act requires that a claim of copyright infringement be sent to the university's registered agent, providing specific information as outlined below. DMCA Section (512)(f) provides penalties for knowingly misrepresenting a claim.

DMCA Section 512(c)(3)(A) requires the following notices alleging copyright infringement:

ELEMENTS OF NOTIFICATION. To be effective under this subsection, a notification of claimed infringement must be a written communication provided to the registered agent of a service provider that includes substantially the following:

1. A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed. [As an electronic signature, the university's agent accepts facsimile/fax and digitized images of a signature attached to electronic mail.]
2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site.
3. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to locate the material. [Please include a URL identifying the material or representative material. If possible, specify any IDs, passwords, or other authorization required to access the material. Please specify date, time, and time zone from which the material was observed. Technicians may require such chronological information in order to identify dynamically assigned Internet locations.
4. Information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail address at which the complaining party may be contacted.
5. A statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
6. A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

DMCA Section 512(d)(3) requires similar information for notices requesting removal of links or other references to infringing materials.

The DMCA requires prompt acknowledgment and action from the registered DMCA agent. The registered DMCA agent will forward any counterclaims to the complaining party. Laws such as the U.S. Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act may control to what extent the university can identify specific members or how to contact them.

How to Report a Counterclaim of Infringement

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act Section 512(g)(3) requires that a counterclaim of copyright infringement provide certain information specified below. DMCA Section 512(f) defines penalties for knowingly misrepresenting a counterclaim.

CONTENTS OF COUNTER NOTIFICATION. To be effective under this subsection, a counter notification must be a written communication provided to the service provider's registered agent that includes substantially the following:

1. A physical or electronic signature of the subscriber. [As an electronic signature, the university's agent accepts facsimile/fax and digitized images of a signature attached to electronic mail.]
2. Identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled and the location at which the material appeared before it was removed or access to it was disabled. [This information will normally be includes in the notice received from the DMCA agent. The counterclaimant may want to expand on or distinguish some materials from others. Please include a URL identifying the material or representative material. Specify any IDs, passwords or other authorization required to access the material.]
3. A statement under penalty of perjury that the subscriber has a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled. [If permissions are held for subject materials, please identify them. If it is believed that the cited materials are quotable under Fair Use Doctrine, please reference the four principles of Fair Use.
4. The subscriber's name, address, and telephone number, and a statement that the subscriber consents to the jurisdiction of Federal District Court for the judicial district in which the address is located, or if the subscriber's address is outside of the United States, for any judicial district in which the service provider may be found, and that the subscriber will accept service of process from the person who provided notification under subsection (c)(1)(C) or an agent of such person.

Once the complaining party receives the claim, the DMCA permits the university, as a service provider, to restore materials or access within two weeks - unless the complaining party serves notice that it intends to seek a court order to restrain infringement. University policy may mandate for other reasons that materials or access not be restored, and that other investigation, containment, or disciplinary measures proceed.

Registered DMCA Agent

Steven Smith
Chief Information Officer
Information Technology/0322
University of Nevada, Reno
Reno, NV 89557-0044
(775) 682-5613
ssmith@unr.edu