In the wake of record- and movie-industry associations dishing out 405 move lawsuits this week against college students across the country for stealing music, some Baton Rouge defense attorneys say the University’s procedure to keep itself out of legal trouble with the record industry may hurt students.
Although no suits were filed against any LSU students, officials at the University’s Office of Telecommunications said they get five to 10 e-mails a week from the Recording Industry Association of America complaining about students illegally sharing music files over the Internet on campus.
But the procedure the University follows to warn students about their alleged illegal actions may actually force them to self-incriminate themselves.
When Terry Doub, a University network security manager, gets e-mails from RIAA, he said the University disconnects the student’s Internet and requires the student to sign a document either admitting he has illegal files and will remove them or denying that he has any illegally shared files.
If the student denies having illegal files, he is referred to the Dean of Students Office for disciplinary action. Anyone accused more than once is automatically sent to the Dean of Students.
Office of Telecommunications officials said this procedure is designed to protect the University so it can not be held liable for student’s illegal actions.
But some local attorneys said the documents could be legally interpreted as a signed confession or denial that could be used as evidence against a student in a future lawsuit.
Baton Rouge defense attorney Michelle Fournet said the record industry could get a judge to subpoena the University for the documents and use them as evidence against students.
Fournet said requiring students to sign a document admitting guilt or fault lead to self-incrimination.
“It’s essentially a confession,” Fournet said. “I definitely would not recommend that anyone sign anything like that, one way or another, without talking to a lawyer.”
Lewis Unglesby, also a Baton Rouge defense attorney, said he would advise students not to sign any documents that could later be used against them.
Doub said the point of the documents is not to obtain an admission of guilt but simply to get students to say they are not going to share files any more. Doub said RIAA has not subpoenaed any of these documents so far but did not rule out the possibility.
The University has been subpoenaed in the past for the name of a student whose IP address RIAA observed to have been stealing music.
“The University does this in order to protect itself,” said Charlie McMahon, director of telecommunications. “But it may pose a problem to students.”
LSU law professor John Church, an expert in intellectual property law, said he understands why the University has a system set up to protect itself against being held liable for what students do on campus but does not understand why the University requires an admission of guilt.
He said that nothing in the law that regulates Internet service providers requires the provider to obtain an admission from those who steal music using its services. The University is legally considered an Internet service provider because students access the Internet through its networks.
He also said he thinks it may be hard for RIAA attorneys to use the documents as evidence in court because they may be considered a part of a disciplinary proceeding. But he said that if he were a defense attorney, he would advise against it too.
Associate Dean of Students Jim Welles said his office did not set up the system but is asked to deal with students when they are in violation of the student code of conduct, which includes sharing copyrighted material.
The code of conduct says any student using University resources to illegally distribute copyrighted material will be referred to the Dean of Students.
Welles said most of the students sent to his office are “scared to death” and leave understanding they should not steal music.
Melissa Dubuc, a business sophomore, said she was caught sharing music last year, and a University official brought a document to her and asked her to sign it. She said he told her the document meant that if RIAA decided to take any legal action, they would sue her, not the University.
“He told me if I didn’t sign it, I would be sent to the Dean’s office,” Dubuc said. “I didn’t want to get kicked out of school.”
Of all the complaints the Office of Telecommunications gets from RIAA, McMahon said almost all the students admit guilt to avoid any trouble.