Violations and penalties
University penalties
As noted and defined in Rights, Rules, Responsibilities, for violations of University-wide rules of conduct, members of the community are subject to several kinds of penalties. The applicability and exact nature of each penalty vary for faculty, students, professional staff, and employees.
Members of the University community who engage in any activity that infringes copyright-protected materials may be subject to disciplinary action. Under circumstances involving repeated instances of infringement through the use of the University’s computing network, such disciplinary action may include the termination or suspension of network privileges. For students, disciplinary action also may include any of the penalties outlined in Rights, Rules, Responsibilities.
Also, if an individual has used services provided by the University on a fee basis, but chose to evade payment of the fee, a penalty normally will involve paying the fee.
Other penalties
Penalties for copyright infringement include civil and criminal penalties. In general, anyone found liable for civil copyright infringement may be ordered to pay either actual damages or "statutory" damages affixed at not less than $750 and not more than $30,000 per work infringed. For "willful" infringement, a court may award up to $150,000 per work infringed. A court can, in its discretion, also assess costs and attorney's fees. For details, see Title 17, United States Code, Sections 504, 505.
Willful copyright infringement can also result in criminal penalties, including imprisonment of up to five years and fines of up to $250,000 per offense.