CMU now forwards ‘takedown notice’ to students downloading illegally

Mark Strandskov said it has been roughly 18 months since legal action was taken against a CMU student for illegal file sharing.

In December 2008, the Recording Industry Association of America announced it would no longer pursue new lawsuits against individuals for illegal downloading or sharing of copyrighted materials. Instead, the organization has been attempting to work with Internet service providers to curtail file-sharing.

However, Strandskov, Central Michigan University’s associate director of networks, said no CMU students have been legally confronted by the RIAA or any other copyright-defending organization since the spring semester of 2008.

He said, however, these organizations are not dormant.

“There are three notices we get, and the most common one is a takedown notice,” Strandskov said.

A takedown notice is a warning from the copyright holder that they are aware of infringement taking place on a particular computer and, if it continues, legal action will be taken, Strandskov said. These warning letters are sent to the university and then forwarded to the user in question.

The university still gets a number of these warnings on a regular basis, and Strandskov estimates the number may have actually risen after the RIAA stopped suing individuals.

“When January (2009) came around, our takedown notices jumped up again,” Strandskov said. “In spring of 2009, we received 347 and, for summer, we received 54. Since September, we’ve received 236 this semester so far as of (Tuesday).”

The process

Strandkov said in a given month, notices from the RIAA make up 65 to 90 percent of all the takedown notices the university receives.

If illegal downloading persists after the takedown notice, copyright holders are within their rights to pursue legal action.

Strandskov said the next step in the process is a preservation letter, a notification to the school that the copyright holder
will send an Early Settlement Letter to be forwarded to the offending individual.
“(The Early Settlement Letter says) that they are willing to make a deal before it goes farther in the legal system, and that they plan to subpoena all information,” Strandskov said.

Strandskov said usually after an Early Settlement Letter is sent, the individual typically has 21 days to settle, usually for $3,000, or the copyright holder will take further legal action toward a suit.

Strandskov said 83 CMU students have been sent early settlement letters, all of those spanning from spring 2007 to spring 2008.

“That’s as far as we get involved in it,” said CMU Assistant General Counsel Mary Roy. “Once those letters leave us, we don’t necessarily know what the follow-up is, because we are not a party to it.”

Roy said the General Counsel office has a letter it attaches with the Early Settlement Letter, advising the student to take it seriously and seek legal advice since CMU’s attorneys cannot represent students.

Roy said the university does not monitor or police its network because, if it did, it would be legally accountable as a party to any copyright infringement lawsuits.

“We’re more like an (Internet service provider) in this situation. We’re providing the bandwidth for the students to use, and what they do with it is up to them,” Roy said.