STUDENT GROUP CANCELS SCREENING AFTER LAWSUIT THREAT

Facing the threat of a copyright-infringement lawsuit, the Gender Studies Student Organization at the University of Maine has canceled an on-campus screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. In a letter-to-the-editor appearing in the The Free Press, the campus newspaper, Hannah Schwenk-Sandau, who had helped organize the free screening said that her group received a message “from a company that polices the Internet for copyright violations,” notifying it that the screening would only be permitted if the group paid a one-time fee of $350 and that, if it was not paid, those involved in the event could face penalties of up to five years in prison and fines up to $250,000. Schwenk-Sandau, who majors in gender studies and sociology, concluded her letter by saying that her organization hopes the incident “helps to enlighten and educate others about copyright infringement.”