Copyright infringement has started to emerge as a critical issue in the contemporary market today. Where innovation is optimizing, encroachment of various copyrighted works is becoming a routine. In this anarchy of legislation, Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) serves as a copyright law which outlaws conception, production and distribution of ideas, technology and/or services that violate the controls on workings bearing exclusive rights. Well reputed search engines like Google comply with DMCA when they receive a request to remove any data and/or information from their pool.
Under the umbrella of DMCA, there are five primary titles providing a foundation for an entity to fight for its right. Each title complies uniquely with copyright infringement ensuring that it should give sufficient coverage to the subject. However, it is the Title II of the act, called Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act that deals with fighting against copyright infringement.
As per the title, Online Service Providers (OSP) shall enjoy a secure haven, free from attempts of duplication of their authorized material by the external users. Moreover, they are safe from getting penalized for their own acts of direct copyright infringement i.e. they may make unauthorized copies of their own material. Also known as the “Safe Harbor” provision, this act abides by the fact that there needs to be a noticeable poise between the benefits of copyright owners and digital users.
In order to sustain in the fights against copyright infringement under the shelter of this act, OSP’s have to conform to some provisions. They include certainty from the fact that the OSP shall not receive any financial benefit directly on the infringing action. In addition, the OSP must have had no idea about the availability of the infringed material before the complaint arose and shall respond instantaneously to the complaints about infringement.
There are several ways to raise an OSP to notice, once digital user reports an infringement activity. The first way is by writing a notification to the designated agent of the OSP. Primary requirements of this method, including required signatures and proper identification of copyrighted work alleged of infringement, should be fulfilling before filing any such notice. Another way to put on the OSP notice is through a red flag test. In this test, a digital user may blame that OSP was aware of the infringement particularly explicitly (objective element). On the other hand, the OSP may be condemned on the ground that a rational person can figure out that the material is a victim of copyright infringement. The OSP can counter the both ways of notification. Once the notice has been issued, the procedure of take-down or put back follows it.
In all, Digital Millennium Copyright Act gives a fairly substantial and effective ground to the digital users to fight for their rights. DMCA and its subdivisions give cover a range of digital issues of the contemporary times, hence giving a solid backing to those who seek justice. Hence, fighting against copyright infringement is surely possible using Digital Millennium Copyright Act.