The recording industry plans on sending pre-litigation letters to more and more colleges in the coming months, and those institutions would do well to give their students a primer on what the notices really mean. So campus officials may want to take a look at Cornell University’s message to its students, which seems to give a pretty thorough and useful rundown of the industry’s new campaign.
The letter, written by Tracy Mitrano, Cornell’s director of IT policy, informs students of the difference between “settlement letters” and “preservation notices” and emphasizes that Cornell is merely a third party in all song-swapping lawsuits. Perhaps most importantly, it encourages students to speak with lawyers before settling claims out of court: If a user receives one of these “settlement letters” or “preservation notices” he or she has complete responsibility to decide or choose how to respond to the RIAA and may want to consult with his or her counsel before making a decision.
—Brock Read
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