You’ve heard of the YMCA, but have you heard of the DMCA?

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998 made it illegal to republish copyrighted electronic media by downloading, uploading, or file-sharing. This includes but is not limited to movies, music, games, software and electronic textbooks.

If you download copyrighted media without paying for it or distribute copyrighted media without the permission of the copyright holder, you are sharing that media illegally.  

Digitally sharing copyrighted materials also violates the UW System Acceptable Use Policy. UWM’s policy is to promptly investigate notices of alleged copyright infringement and take appropriate actions under the DMCA.

The following video explains some of the risks of violating the DMCA:

For more information about the DMCA, check out the Illegal File Sharing section on our Cybersecurity page.