The Digital Millennium Copyright Act

The DMCA is a response to concerns regarding the pirating and distribution of digital materials, and it helps to clarify how copyright relates to those materials. The DMCA criminalizes the development of technologies intended to circumvent devices (such as passwords or encryption) that limit access to copyrighted material, and it also criminalizes the act of circumvention itself. Institutions of higher education that act as Internet Service Providers (such as Hood College) are granted limited liability for copyright infringement involving the use of their networks if they take steps to designate a local agent to receive notices regarding instances of infringement over the local network and for effecting a “take-down” of the infringing material. The Library Director will provide contact information for Hood’s Take-Down Officer.