University administrators are concerned about an abnormally high number of copyright infringement notices issued last semester from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), and other major recording, television and publishing companies.

“Brandeis is committed to respecting and protecting intellectual property rights,” Dean Gendron, Director of Student Rights and Community Standards and Dennis Devlin, Chief Information Security Officer for Library and Technology Services wrote in an email to students last Friday.

“Illegal sharing of copyrighted material is a violation of the Brandeis University Computer Policy as well as Rights and Responsibilities, and is grounds for disciplinary action from the Brandeis Department of Student Rights and Community Standards.”

Copyright holders sent the notifications after they discovered unlawful peer-to-peer file sharing from an IP address on the Brandeis campus. Upon obtaining a notification, LTS forwards it to the person connected to the specific IP address.

“The individual receiving the notice is personally responsible for any fines, penalties or legal actions contained in the notice, and in the past this has included fines of up to $3,000 to settle illegally sharing a single recording,” Gendron and Davlin wrote.