To use the DMCA process, the College is required to make it easy for copyright owners to provide information about alleged infringements.  To meet this responsibility, the College has publicly designated an agent to receive such information. The College's agent is registered with the U.S. Copyright Office.  A listing of agents is available online at www.loc.gov/copyright/onlinesp/list/index.html.

The Registered Agent for the College of Southern Idaho is:

Edit Szanto

Vice President of Student Services/Planning and Grant Development

College of Southern Idaho

315 Falls Avenue

Twin Falls, ID 83301

Phone: (208)732-6863

Fax: (208)736-3014 Attn: Edit Szanto

E-mail: copyright@csi.edu

The agent, in consultation with college officials, will make the determinations described below regarding responses to complaints alleging copyright infringement, including whether the institution wishes to use the DMCA procedures and whether a notice received is sufficient under the law.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act requires that a claim of copyright infringement be sent to the college’s registered agent, providing specific information as outlined below. DMCA Section 512(d)(3) requires similar information for notices requesting removal of links or other references to infringing materials.

Individuals who wish to submit a notice are referred to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act Section 512 (c)(3)(A) (for notices alleging that content infringes) or Section 512(d)(3) (for notices that allege that information location tools such as links contribute to infringement of a work).

Before submitting a notice, please try to determine that the service provider really is associated with the College of Southern Idaho.  State of Idaho government offices, public schools, and public libraries are separate entities, typically with their own DMCA agents. The Copyright Office maintains a list of DMCA agents.

DMCA section (512) (f) defines penalties for knowingly misrepresenting a claim.

ELEMENTS OF NOTIFICATION. To be effective under DMCA Section 512(c)(3)(A), a notification of claimed infringement must be a written communication provided to the registered agent of a service provider that includes substantially the following:

                   i.            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.]

                ii.            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.

              iii.            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.]

              iv.            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.

                 v.            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.

              vi.            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.

The DMCA requires prompt acknowledgment and action from the registered DMCA agent.

Policy on Take-Down and Put Back of Material and Activity

The following steps should be taken by the registered agent upon eventual determination that the limited liability protection afforded by the DMCA should be invoked for that claim by the College.  The registered agent will make such a determination expeditiously and in consultation with one or more campus officials as noted below. 

1. 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:
• Protect rights of intellectual property owners as defined by law and college policy;
• Protect rights and due process of those accused of infringement - particularly if Fair Use protection may apply;
• Consult the College President when questions arise.
2. The college's registered DMCA agent shall receive and process all claims of infringement. Claims may come from inside or outside the college. The law requires such claims to contain certain information (see requirements above).
3. The DMCA agent shall promptly acknowledge receipt of each infringement claim.  
4. 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.  The agent may do this by supplying the complainer with a copy of or a reference to Section 512 (c) (3) (for notices alleging that content infringes) or Section 512 (d) (3) (for notices that allege that information location tools such as links contribute to infringement of a work).  These sections describe what a notice must contain. If the complainer does not respond and the notice is nonconforming with respect to requirements 2, 3 or 4, the agent may ignore the notice, but will save it along with a copy of any correspondence attempting to obtain more information in case the College needs proof that it did not receive a conforming notice and did what is required to get one.  
5. Upon receipt of a complete claim of infringement, the registered agent shall confirm location and identity of the materials noted in the claim and shall identify the publisher of such material. The agent will notify the publisher of the material about the allegations received in a conforming notice.  At his/her discretion, the registered agent may also notify the publisher that he/she may submit a counter notification if there is reason to believe that the claim is mistaken. 
6. The registered agent shall send copies of the conforming claims to the following campus officials: President, Executive Vice President & Chief Information Officer, Dean of Instruction, Vice President of Planning and Development, Vice President of Finance, Dean of Information Technology, and Director of Library. 
7. The registered agent will review the claims and consult with one or more of the following as appropriate:
• Executive Vice President of Instruction & Chief Academic Officer, Dean of Instruction, and Dean of Information Technology if publisher of disputed materials is a faculty member;
• Executive Vice President of Instruction & Chief Academic Officer and Dean of Information Technology if publisher of disputed materials is a staff member;  
• Director of Student Services, Executive Vice President of Instruction & Chief Academic Officer, Dean of Instruction, and Dean of Information Technology if publisher of disputed materials is a CSI student publishing the materials in an employee capacity (work study student, part time employee, etc.); 
• Director of Student Services, Executive Vice President of Instruction & Chief Academic Officer, and Dean of Information technology if publisher of disputed materials is a CSI student who was not acting in an employee function;
• College President when deemed necessary;
• College legal counsel when directed by the President;
• Director of Library and Reference Librarian for issues relating to Fair Use doctrine and interpretation of copyright laws and regulations. 
8. Following consultation with the above individuals as appropriate, the registered agent will direct prompt voluntary removal of materials or prompt disabling of access on all local or wide area network to the material or activity claimed to be infringing.  The registered agent shall take steps to ensure this take-down will impact essential college activities as little as possible in effecting immediate compliance.

9.          The registered college agent or the agent’s designee will take responsible steps to promptly notify in writing (electronic mail, fax or regular mail) the claimant and the publisher of the material of the decision.  This notice will specify information required to make a counterclaim, and other information explaining applicable due process rights.

10.     Under certain circumstances, it may be appropriate for the College to participate in determining whether fair use or some other exemption may apply that would allow the College to re-post the work.  In such cases, the registered agent will arrange for promptly restoring the material or activity, upon proper compliance with the terms of DMCA regarding Put Back procedures.  

11.     Counter notices may claim two things: (i) that the copyright owner is mistaken and that the work is lawfully posted or (ii) that the work has been misidentified.  The publisher of the material may assert that the use of the claimant’s work qualifies as a fair use and so the copyright owner is “mistaken” in characterizing it as infringing.

12.     The registered agent will send a copy of any substantially conforming counter-notice to the claimant indicating that access to the material will be restored within 10 business days after the day we received the counter-notice, unless we first receive a notice from the claimant that he or she has filed an action seeking a court order to restrain the page owner. 

• If the registered agent receives a notice that the claimant has filed an action seeking a court order to restrain the page owner, the agent will not re-publish the allegedly infringing material while court action is pending.  The agent will inform the publisher of the material concerning the notice about the court order. The registered agent will consult with the College President and appropriate college administrators concerning a response. 
• If the registered agent does not receive a notice that the claimant has filed an action seeking a court order, the agent will restore the materials not less than 10, nor more than 14 days after the agent receives the counter-notice.   

13.     The College of Southern Idaho 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 college’s information systems equipment or network connections and/or services.

14.     All questions regarding this policy should be directed to the college’s registered agent.

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:

                   i.            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.]

                ii.            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.]

              iii.            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.

              iv.            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 college, 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. College policy may mandate for other reasons that materials or access not be restored, and that other investigation, containment, or disciplinary measures proceed.

The registered DMCA agent will forward any counterclaims to the complaining party.  Laws such as the U.S. Family Educational Right to Privacy Act may control to what extent the College can identify specific members or how to contact them.  The DMCA states that someone wanting to make a counterclaim must provide adequate identification and contact information.

The DMCA allows a copyright holder to request that a federal district court issue a subpoena to the Online Service Provider requiring it to identify the individual who is responsible for the alleged infringement. A subpoena may be requested only after a claim has been received from the copyright holder. If the campus receives such a subpoena, normal procedures for responding to subpoenas should be followed.