An important part of the OSCR mission is using technological resources to help students successfully complete their course work. Often, students use multimedia that they've found online to illustrate a concept in a paper, presentation, or project, but find they need guidance on adhering to Fair Use guidelines.

We at OSCR are very concerned about the issues of illegal peer-to-peer (P2P) downloading and copyright infringement. We're not gonna sugar-coat it: illegally downloading copyrighted materials is stealing. Owners of copyrights are very aggressive in their pursuit of violators and The University of Arizona takes it very seriously when there are allegations of illegal file sharing using university networks and computers.

We know the issue is a confusing one with lots of legal gray areas. Please take some time to educate yourself on copyright issues by visiting UA Library's Office of Copyright Management & Scholarly Communication. This webpage provides straightforward, accurate guidance to help you determine what you can legally use and what you should avoid using without first obtaining permission from the copyright holder.

If you're still stumped about whether what you want to do is legal or not, just STOP what you're doing and contact the office directly at (520) 621.6433. UA staff is very interested in helping you stay out of trouble. Please don't hesitate to ask questions when you're unsure.

Royalty-free Music and Sound Effects for UA Student Projects

Are you working on a multimedia project and need a few great tunes or sound effects to kick it from "meh" to "awesome?" If so, OSCR has a couple of fantastic resources--FREE resources--for you to explore and use.

If your project requires sound effects, you may also use Network Music Library's royalty-free sound effects collection. Audio clips are available as MP3 files at http://web.cfa.arizona.edu/soundeffects/.

Visit OSCR's Multimedia Learning Lab in Music 137 or call the 24/7 IT Support Center (520) 626.TECH (8324) for more details on how to use these two cool resources!

Where to Get Media Online... Without Breaking the Law!

There are lots of cool sites featuring music, videos, movies, software and more. Many of these sites offer free, legal downloads.

For music:
Amazon MP3
Apple's iTunes Music Store
Napster
Pandora

For the latest, greatest, most comprehensive list of legal music resources, check out the Recording Industry Association of America's website.

For movies:
iTunes Store
Hulu
Netflix

Or check out the Motion Picture Association of America's list of great online movie resources.