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The Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation
Act, Title II of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”), 17 U.S.C.A. § 512, protects qualified Internet service providers
and websites from liability for all monetary damages for direct, vicarious and contributory copyright infringement. To qualify
for one of the safe harbor provisions, the website or ISP's activities must involve functions described in one of the enumerated
categories. The enumerated categories include: third-party infringing material which merely passes through a service provider's
system (transmitting, routing, and providing connections); system caching (storing information from outside sources in order
to afford easy access to that information for users); information stored by a user (information stored or residing on systems
or networks at the behest of users); linking to infringing material (providing links or paths to material that infringes upon
another's copyright); and disabling access or removing material (the good faith blocking of access to material believed to
be infringing).
The DMCA may provide broad protections against third-party copyright liability for online service providers
(including the owners of interactive websites) who meet a number of conditions. The DMCA limits the extent of liability for
online copyright infringement by providing a series of "safe harbors" from monetary liability to qualifying service providers.
Generally speaking, the DMCA immunizes online service providers from copyright liability under circumstances where they neither
know, nor have reason to know, that they are committing or aiding users in committing copyright infringement, if the online
service acts to stop and prevent the infringement once it receives notice thereof.
To qualify for the DMCA protections,
a company must: adopt and implement a termination policy to be applied to repeat copyright infringers; inform users and visitors
of the policy; accommodate and work around "standard technical measures," such as technical means used by copyright holders
to monitor and protect their material from infringement; designate an agent whom copyright holders can contact with claims
of infringement; and act immediately upon receiving notice of possible infringement.
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