Some expectations in society are left to individuals' own ethical codes. Others are imposed through laws and regulations.

Downloading a song or a movie off the internet without paying for it constitutes breaking not only an ethical code but also a law.

"Copyright law wants to encourage the creation of new things," said Ed Carter, a licensed attorney and assistant professor of communications, who is also currently working toward a post-graduate degree in intellectual property law.

The Chronicle of Higher Education Web site announced on April 30 that colleges and universities around the country are seeing a significant increase in the number of copyright infringement notices they receive from the Recording Industry Association of America.

"We haven't seen any increase in the last six months in our notification," said Carl Johnson, copyright licensing office director on BYU campus.

Of the three divisions in the Intellectual Property Services at BYU, it is the Copyright Licensing Office that deals with educating students and faculty about the laws and regulations of copyrighting.

"We all [within the Intellectual Property Service] deal with the laws that protect intellectual property, patents, trademarks, copy rights and trade secrets," Johnson said.

The office's personnel are available to present at meetings, retreats and conferences and in classrooms on copyright education, awareness, licensing and policy.

Students at BYU may receive fewer notifications for copyright infringement than students at other universities, Johnson said, because at BYU "there's much more interest in doing what is right."

He said BYU receives significantly fewer copyright infringement notifications than some other campuses in the country overall.

"In complying with copyright law, I find that students want to know what is right," Johnson said.

Johnson said two factors contribute to the lower numbers of notifications on BYU campus - students here have a high standard of behavior and the management of information technology resources at BYU is efficient.

The Copyright Licensing Office is also responsible for notifying students who have infringed copyright law and for making sure they will delete the files in question, Johnson said.

The office's responsibilities do not stop there. They also make sure to educate students on copyright infringement being a serious matter, Johnson said.

In more serious cases, and when the students do not comply with the office's requirements, they are referred to the Honor Code Office.

"I just want them to be educated and delete the files," Johnson said, "I'm neither their bishop nor the honor code office."

James Pardi, an advertising student, said now that he is creating his own work, he is on the other side of the fence.

"I empathize with writers," Pardi said. "I wouldn't want anyone to steal my work and put their name on it."

Pardi recognizes the importance of copyright laws for both creators outside BYU campus, as well as for those on campus.

"Not only are they writing papers, but they're writing lyrics, recording songs, drawing architectural [plans], making sculptures and making movies," Carter said. "Every time they create these, they own the copyright, even if it's for a class."

BYU students can learn about copyright laws and regulations on the Copyright Licensing Office's Web site - copyright.byu.edu.

Copyright Brigham Young University 12 May 2008