Digital Millennium Copyright Act Basics ? Legal, Blogging

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is the most recent copyright law amendment to Title 17 of the United States Code, reflecting the dynamic world including the digital expression of creative works and their necessary protections.??? The bottom line is the DMCA makes it illegal to break or circumvent digital contents? locks and controls.? Creative works, in whatever form, including digital, have copyright protection and it is illegal to circumvent protections.

Four Prongs of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Enacted October 28, 1998

• Access controls of copyrighted material may not be circumvented
• Technological devices that circumvent access controls are illegal
• Any method, device, or service that violates copyright protection is banned
• The removal of copyright management information, also known as ?CMI?, is prohibited

Violating the DMCA is a Crime

The DMCA criminalizes the creation and distribution of technology, technological services, or technological devices that circumvent copyright laws.? In fact, just by-passing access control alone is a crime, regardless of whether copyright infringement is present or not.?

Criticisms of DMCA

Common criticisms of the DMCA include:

• Threats to remove under DMCA are being inappropriately made and web content is unnecessarily taken down
• The DMCA is more stringent than the two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) had intended
• Free expression is stifled
• The ?fair use? doctrine is in jeopardy; for example, videos can?t be copied for educational purposes
• The impediment of after sale competition
• The interference with computer intrusion laws

Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act (Part of DMCA)

Title II of the DMCA contains the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitations Act (OCILLA.)? ?OCILLA protects online service providers against liability for copyright infringement by their users so long as certain actions are taken.

For example, the online service provider must immediately either block access to or take down material that may violate copyright protection, upon receiving notice.? In addition, they must provide user identity when subpoenaed.

Source: http://www.wpburn.com/copyrights/digital-millennium-copyright-act-basics

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