0.2 Copyright laws (u.s.)  (Page 2/3)

(While Wikipedia is not accepted as a scholarly resource, at the time of this writing, it had the best list of copyright case law on the Internet. Remember that the quality of any Wikipedia page can change at any time).

What is the DMCA?

“DMCA” stands for the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which was passed in 1998. It addresses several issues that made people nervous in the early days of the Internet. (U.S. Government 1998) Some of them are:

-Liability of the Internet Service Provider. The DMCA provided that the Internet Service Provider (or ISP) was NOT liable for infringing content that passed through their servers. In order to qualify for this safety net, the ISP has to list a “copyright agent” with the Copyright Office. A content owner who believes their content is being infringed on a site can send a take-down notice to the

copyright agent for the ISP. Once received, the ISP has a limited amount of time to respond. Most often, they will either take down or block access to the content in question. The site manager responsible for the content has the option to file a “DMCA Counternotification” which outlines why the content is not infringing.

An example may help clarify the “liability of the ISP” issue. A statewide Internet Service Provider, LightningNet, has registered one its top executive assistants, Stan Lerner, as their copyright agent with the Copyright Office. Some weeks later a client, using the web space he contracted from LightningNet, posted the entire contents of a recent CD by a popular artist. When the artist’s recording company became aware of this infringement, they notified Stan, who then blocked access to the client’s site. If the client does not come up with permission (or a good Fair Use justification), LightningNet will take down the site.

-The DMCA limits the liability of colleges and universities that serve as ISPs for infringement committed by faculty and graduate students. To qualify, the college or university must provide all of its Internet users with information about copyright and “promoting compliance” with copyright law. Undergraduate students are not mentioned in this part of the law.

-Anti-circumvention. The DMCA made it a crime to circumvent (or bypass) any software which is intended to prevent illegal copying of a digital item. The law was intended to protect CDs, DVDs, software, and so forth, but has also been applied to garage door openers and other devices with encryption software. Devices and information which can be used to break encryption software are also outlawed. In some settings, an exemption to this section allows encryption software to be broken in order to conduct encryption research, assess product interoperability, and test computer security systems.

-The DMCA allows some libraries and archives to bypass digital encryption for specific purposes.

-The DMCA requires the Register of Copyrights to consult the relevant parties and develop a law to promote the use of technology in Higher Education while protecting the rights of creators of digital technologies. This provision led to the TEACH Act of 2002.