Digital Millennium Copyright Act
Liability Limitations for Online Service Providers

Initially it is important to recognize the definition of an online service provider. For purposes of section 512(c), a "service provider" is defined as a provider of online services or network access, or the operator of facilities therefore, including an entity offering the transmission, routing, or providing of connections for digital online communications, between or among points specified by a user, of material of the user's choosing, without modification to the content of the material as sent or received. 17 U.S.C. 512(k)(1)(A)-(B).

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) provides Online Service Providers (OSP) certain limitations on liability with respect to information residing, at the direction of a user, on a system or network that the service provider controls or operates, if the service provider has designated an agent for notification of claimed infringement by providing contact information to the Copyright Office and through the service provider’s publicly accessible website.

The link to the Copyright office information on this issue is:

       http://www.loc.gov/copyright/onlinesp/

A copy of the necessary designation form is available at that link. There is a thirty dollar fee.

The act itself can be found at that location as well. The relevant provisions are found under Title II Sec. 201.

In general, damages cannot be recovered from registered OSP’s for four activities as long as the requirements of the act are met. These activities are:

       1. Acting only as a Conduit
       2. System Caching
       3. Innocent and Storage of Users Information
       4. Search Engine Linking to Infringing Information

The requirements of each section require a lack of knowledge of the OSP of the infringing material and generally no financial benefit from the information. There are numerous other requirements to fit within each safe harbor activity. The act also requires certain OSP policies relating to the expeditious removal or disabling of access to such information after notice to the designated agent.

InternetLitigators can prepare a DMCA policy for you or review your policies and procedures to determine whether you are in compliance so that you can be certain that you are able to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the DMCA.