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Westminster College, as both a producer and a major consumer of intellectual property, seeks to promote respect for intellectual property throughout the College community while maintaining the highest standard of ethical conduct. The current economic, social, and legal landscape makes an understanding of copyright law not just widely relevant, but also challenging. It is the policy of Westminster College to fully respect all rights that exist in any material protected by the copyright laws of the United States while also encouraging usage of the material that furthers the educational mission. The College believes that a balance must exist between the rights of the producers and distributors of works and the privileges of users who benefit from their use. To accomplish this, Westminster College expects compliance with copyright laws from all members of her community while concurrently intending that faculty, staff, administration, and students take full advantage of all relevant licenses, exemptions, and exclusions that are provided for under copyright law. If there is no applicable license, exemption, or exclusion to permit use of the material, faculty, staff, administration, and students must obtain permission for the anticipated use from the copyright holder.
The resources available on the Copyright information page seek to provide guidance for employees and students on these specific issues as they perform College-related tasks. Ultimately each individual member of the Westminster College academic community is responsible for knowing his/her obligation in these matters.
Sanctions for violation of the copyright law and campus expectations regarding copyrighted material may include but are not limited to suspension of technology or Library privileges, termination of employment, academic probation or suspension, referral to Student Judicial Board, and/or criminal prosecution.
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