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Campus Events Information

Student Organization Information on Events

Student groups and organizations planning and carrying out their activities and conducting their affairs bear the responsibility for doing so in accordance with University regulations as well as state and local laws. Student organizations will be held responsible for the behavior of their members or guests when the actions of these individuals evolve from or are associated with the organization or an activity related to the organization.

Definition of an Activity Related to an Organization
The extent to which an organization will be held responsible for the actions of individual members or guests will be determined in accordance with the following guidelines. An activity is considered to be related to an organization when one of the following circumstances exists:

  • The activity being sponsored was planned in an official meeting of the organization
  • The activity is a registered event with the University
  • The context of the activity indicated that it was the product of the organization per se. This includes but is not limited to: the activity was held on organization property, the presence of one or more of the group’s officers, the presence of 25 percent or more of the group’s members, promoting or financing the event or the presence of organized entertainment.

The parent organization shall be responsible for the actions of new members or other subgroups carrying official status. Events or activities that include numbers of non-members also are the responsibility of the group or organization in question. Appropriate measures must be employed to prevent or deal with infractions and problems involving nonmembers.

Infractions
Each group or organization has the responsibility and is expected to deal with individuals allegedly in violation of University regulations or laws by referring such individuals to Public Safety, the Dean of Students, Housing and Residence Life and/or the Center for Campus Life. Circumstances that do not constitute violation of University policy or law, but that may be violations of organizational regulations may be dealt with internally by the organization. Each group or organization is expected to refer such individual(s) to the appropriate University authorities.

Public Safety should be contacted immediately for any issue involving public safety. The Center for Campus Life should be contacted for any organizational constitution violations. Referral should be made to the Center for Campus Life and/or the Dean of Students for violations of the Code of Student Behavior and/or University conduct action.

The group or organization must show good faith in referring individual(s) who may be responsible for violating University policy or any federal, state or local laws. The degree to which the group or organization carries out this overall responsibility will have bearing on the extent to which it may be held accountable for the actions of the individual(s). Members and non-members of a group at an activity related to an organization are included in the expectation of the group’s responsibility and appropriate measures must be employed to preventer deal with problems and/or violations.

When (1) sufficient preventive measures have not been employed and/or (2) action to refer individual cases to appropriate authorities has not been taken, the student organization may be held accountable for violations.

Additional responsibilities for social fraternity and sorority organizations regarding activities and events can be found in the University of Southern Indiana Fraternity and Sorority Policies and Guidelines.

Entertainers, Speakers, and Performers

It is required that any student organization or group wishing to engage in contracting contact the Center for Campus Life for specific advice as to the contracting procedures. Students and advisors should not be signing contracts and must follow all contractual procedures as required by the University.

An invitation to a speaker does not necessarily imply approval or disapproval of the speaker or his or her views by either the University or the student organization. In case a request for the use of a University facility by a registered student organization cannot be granted, it is the responsibility of the University officer to whom the request was made to notify promptly in writing the organization making the request stating the reasons for the denial.

The University administration and advisor may inform an organization concerning its views on any proposed off-campus speaker or performer but will leave the final decision to the organization.

Speakers may be invited to campus to discuss political issues. Registered student organizations may solicit memberships and dues at meetings. However, political party membership may not be promoted or money may not be raised for projects not directly connected with a University activity, and private business may not be conducted in University facilities.

Film Copyright

To play a movie (including documentaries) or other copyrighted material, a license must be obtained from the copyright owner to publicly show outside the home to more than family and friends. Copyright infringement is a serious offense under the law and is also the equivalent of stealing from a film distributor. While it is important to abide by the law, it is also important that your organization represents itself well by getting permission to show copyrighted material. Showing material without permission will be considered a violation of university policy. If your student organization wants to show a film on campus, you must pay the licensing and copyright fees associated with the film or program. After you have selected the movie that you would like to show, you must first purchase a public viewing license and rights to show the film in public, (public performance fee). Even if you choose to show the movie for free, you still must purchase the copyrights. Willful copyright infringement is punishable by federal law.

The major firms that handle these licenses include:

Penalties for Copyright Infringement: “Willful” infringement done for purposes of commercial or financial gain is a federal crime and is punishable as a felony, carrying a maximum sentence of up to five years in jail and/or a $150,000 fine. Even inadvertent infringes are subject to substantial civil damages, ranging from $500 to $20,000 for each illegal showing.”

Streaming

Anytime an individual or group wants to show some form of copyrighted material, the rights to show that material in a public form must be purchased – even if shown virtually. This also includes showing any video through a streaming service since your account is for “personal use” only.

Virtual watch parties are can happen through Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime. The above are approved ways of conducting a virtual watch party because each individual in “attendance” must log into their own personal account before attending the “party.” We have included the Netflix Terms of Use statement below. All the other major streaming platforms have a similar statement.

 **From the Netflix Terms of Use Item 6B (Netflix Service):

“The Netflix service and any content viewed through our service are for your personal and non-commercial use only. During your Netflix membership, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, license to access the Netflix service and view Netflix content through the service. Except for the foregoing limited license, no right, title or interest shall be transferred to you. You agree not to use the service for public performances.”

If you have questions, we encourage you to reach out to Special Events and Scheduling or the Center for Campus Life.