Legal Definitions - Digital Millennium Copyright Act

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a United States federal law passed in 1998 that updated copyright law to address the challenges and opportunities presented by the internet and new digital technologies. Its primary goals were to bring U.S. copyright law into alignment with international treaties and to establish rules for protecting copyrighted works in the digital environment.

The DMCA has two particularly significant components:

• It makes it illegal to bypass technological measures (like encryption or copy protection) designed to prevent unauthorized access to or copying of copyrighted works. It also prohibits the creation or distribution of tools specifically designed to circumvent these protections.
• It provides "safe harbors" for online service providers (such as internet service providers, social media platforms, and hosting companies). These safe harbors protect these providers from liability for copyright infringement committed by their users, as long as the providers meet certain conditions. A key condition is the "notice-and-takedown" process, where providers must promptly remove allegedly infringing content when notified by a copyright owner.

Here are some examples illustrating how the DMCA applies:

• Example 1: Anti-Circumvention
  Imagine a software developer creates a program that allows users to bypass the digital rights management (DRM) encryption on newly released e-books, enabling them to freely copy and share the books without authorization. Under the DMCA, both the act of developing and distributing this circumvention software, and the act of using it to unlock the e-books, would be illegal. This provision aims to protect the technological safeguards copyright holders put in place to control access to their digital content.
• Example 2: ISP Safe Harbor (Notice and Takedown)
  A professional photographer discovers that one of their copyrighted images has been uploaded and widely shared on a social media platform without their permission. The photographer can send a DMCA "takedown notice" to the social media platform. If the platform complies by promptly removing the allegedly infringing image, the DMCA's safe harbor provision protects the platform from being held liable for its users' initial act of copyright infringement. This encourages platforms to act responsibly without being overly burdened by their users' actions.
• Example 3: ISP Safe Harbor (Counter-Notice)
  A content creator uploads a video to a video-sharing website, incorporating a short clip from a movie for critical commentary, believing it falls under fair use. The movie studio sends a DMCA takedown notice, and the video is removed. The content creator can then file a DMCA "counter-notice," asserting their belief that their use was lawful. If the movie studio does not then file a lawsuit within a specific timeframe, the video-sharing site may restore the content. This mechanism allows users to challenge takedowns they believe are erroneous or abusive, balancing copyright protection with free expression.