DIGITAL MILLENNIUM COPYRIGHT ACT
SEC. 202. LIMITATIONS ON LIABILITY FOR
COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
(a) IN GENERAL- Chapter 5 of title 17, United States
Code, is amended by adding after section 511 the following new section:
`Sec. 512. Limitations on liability relating to
material online
`(a) TRANSITORY DIGITAL NETWORK COMMUNICATIONS-
A service provider shall not be liable for monetary relief, or, except as
provided in subsection (j), for injunctive or other equitable relief, for
infringement of copyright by reason of the provider's transmitting, routing,
or providing connections for, material through a
system or network controlled or operated by or for the service provider,
or by reason of the intermediate and transient storage of that material
in the course of such transmitting, routing, or providing connections, if--
`(1) the transmission of the material was initiated
by or at the direction of a person other than the service provider;
`(2) the transmission, routing, provision of connections,
or storage is carried out through an automatic technical process without
selection of the material by the service provider;
`(3) the service provider does not select the recipients
of the material except as an automatic response tothe request of another
person;
`(4) no copy of the material made by the service
provider in the course of such intermediate or transientstorage is maintained
on the system or network in a manner ordinarily accessible to anyone other
than anticipated recipients, and no such copy is maintained on the system
or network in a manner ordinarily accessible to such anticipated recipients
for a longer period than is reasonably necessary for the transmission, routing,
or provision of connections; and
`(5) the material is transmitted through the system
or network without modification of its content.
`(b) SYSTEM CACHING-
`(1) LIMITATION ON LIABILITY- A service provider
shall not be liable for monetary relief, or, except as provided in subsection
(j), for injunctive or other equitable relief, for infringement of copyright
by reason of the intermediate and temporary storage of material on a system
or network controlled or operated by
or for the service provider in a case in which--
`(A) the material is made available online by a
person other than the service provider,
`(B) the material is transmitted from the person
described in subparagraph (A) through the system or network to a person
other than the person described in subparagraph (A) at the direction of
that other person, and
`(C) the storage is carried out through an automatic
technical process for the purpose of making the material available to users
of the system or network who, after the material is transmitted as described
in subparagraph (B), request access to the material from the person described
in subparagraph (A),
if the conditions set forth in paragraph (2) are
met.
(2) CONDITIONS- The conditions referred to in paragraph
(1) are that--
'(A) the material described in paragraph (1) is
transmitted to the subsequent users described in paragraph (1)(C) without
modification to its content from the manner in which the material was transmitted
from the person described in paragraph (1)(A);
`(B) the service provider described in paragraph
(1) complies with rules concerning the refreshing, reloading, or other updating
of the material when specified by the person making the material available
online in accordance with a generally accepted industry standard data communications
protocol for the system or network through which that person makes the material
available, except that this subparagraph applies only if those rules are
not used by the person described in paragraph (1)(A) to prevent or unreasonably
impair the intermediate storage to which this subsection applies;
`(C) the service provider does not interfere with
the ability of technology associated with the material to return to the
person described in paragraph (1)(A) the information that would have beenavailable
to that person if the material had been obtained by the subsequent users
described in paragraph (1)(C) directly from that
person, except that this subparagraph applies only if that technology--
`(i) does not significantly interfere with the
performance of the provider's system or network or with the intermediate
storage of the material;
`(ii) is consistent with generally accepted industry
standard communications protocols; and
`(iii) does not extract information from the provider's
system or network other than theinformation that would have been available
to the person described in paragraph (1)(A) if the subsequent users had
gained access to the material directly from that person;
`(D) if the person described in paragraph (1)(A)
has in effect a condition that a person must meet prior to having access
to the material, such as a condition based on payment of a fee or provision
of a password or other information, the service provider permits access
to the stored material in significant part only to users of its system or
network that have met those conditions and only in accordance with those
conditions; and
`(E) if the person described in paragraph (1)(A)
makes that material available online without the authorization of the copyright
owner of the material, the service provider responds expeditiously to remove,
or disable access to, the material that is claimed to be infringing upon
notification of claimed infringement as described in subsection (c)(3),
except that this subparagraph applies only if--
`(i) the material has previously been removed from
the originating site or access to it has been disabled, or a court has ordered
that the material be removed from the originating site or that access to
the material on the originating site be disabled; and
`(ii) the party giving the notification includes
in the notification a statement confirming that the material has been removed
from the originating site or access to it has been disabled or that a court
has ordered that the material be removed from the originating site or that
access to the material on the originating site be disabled.
`(c) INFORMATION RESIDING ON SYSTEMS OR NETWORKS
AT DIRECTION OF USERS-
`(1) IN GENERAL- A service provider shall not be
liable for monetary relief, or, except as provided in subsection (j), for
injunctive or other equitable relief, for infringement of copyright by reason
of the storage at the direction of a user of material that resides on a
system or network controlled or operated by or for the service provider,
if the service provider--
`(A)(i) does not have actual knowledge that the
material or an activity using the material on the system or network is infringing;
`(ii) in the absence of such actual knowledge,
is not aware of facts or circumstances from which infringing activity is
apparent; or
`(iii) upon obtaining such knowledge or awareness,
acts expeditiously to remove, or disable access to, the material;
`(B) does not receive a financial benefit directly
attributable to the infringing activity, in a case in which the service
provider has the right and ability to control such activity; and
`(C) upon notification of claimed infringement
as described in paragraph (3), responds expeditiously to remove, or disable
access to, the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject
of infringing activity.
`(2) DESIGNATED AGENT- The limitations on liability
established in this subsection apply to a service provider only if the service
provider has designated an agent to receive notifications of claimed infringement
described in paragraph (3), by making available through its service, including
on its website in a location accessible to the public, and by providing
to the Copyright Office, substantially the following
information:
`(A) the name, address, phone number, and electronic
mail address of the agent.
`(B) other contact information which the Register
of Copyrights may deem appropriate.
The Register of Copyrights shall maintain a current
directory of agents available to the public for inspection, including through
the Internet, in both electronic and hard copy formats, and may require
payment of a fee by service providers to cover the costs of maintaining
the directory.
`(3) ELEMENTS OF NOTIFICATION-
`(A) To be effective under this subsection, a notification
of claimed infringement must be a written communication provided to the
designated agent of a service provider that includes substantially the following:
`(i) A physical or electronic signature of a person
authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly
infringed.
`(ii) Identification of the copyrighted work claimed
to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online
site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such
works at that site.
`(iii) Identification of the material that is claimed
to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is
to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably
sufficient to permit the service provider to locate the material.
`(iv) Information reasonably sufficient to permit
the service provider to contact the complaining party, such as an address,
telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail address at which
the complaining party may be contacted.
`(v) A statement that the complaining party has
a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of
is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
`(vi) A statement that the information in the notification
is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is
authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly
infringed.
`(B)(i) Subject to clause (ii), a notification
from a copyright owner or from a person authorized to act on behalf of the
copyright owner that fails to comply substantially with the provisions of
subparagraph (A) shall not be considered under paragraph (1)(A) in determining
whether a service provider has actual knowledge or is aware of facts or
circumstances from which infringing activity is apparent.
`(ii) In a case in which the notification that
is provided to the service provider's designated agent fails to comply substantially
with all the provisions of subparagraph (A) but substantially complies with
clauses (ii), (iii), and (iv) of subparagraph (A), clause (i) of this subparagraph
applies only if the service provider promptly attempts to contact the person
making the notification or takes other reasonable steps to assist in the
receipt of notification that substantially complies with all the provisions
of subparagraph (A).
`(d) INFORMATION LOCATION TOOLS- A service provider
shall not be liable for monetary relief, or, except as provided in subsection
(j), for injunctive or other equitable relief, for infringement of copyright
by reason of the provider referring or linking users to an online location
containing infringing material or infringing activity, by using information
location tools, including a directory, index, reference, pointer, or hypertext
link, if the service provider--
`(1)(A) does not have actual knowledge that the
material or activity is infringing;
`(B) in the absence of such actual knowledge, is
not aware of facts or circumstances from which infringing activity is apparent;
or
`(C) upon obtaining such knowledge or awareness,
acts expeditiously to remove, or disable access to, the material;
`(2) does not receive a financial benefit directly
attributable to the infringing activity, in a case in which the service
provider has the right and ability to control such activity; and
`(3) upon notification of claimed infringement
as described in subsection (c)(3), responds expeditiously to remove, or
disable access to, the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be
the subject of infringing activity, except that, for purposes of this paragraph,
the information described in subsection (c)(3)(A)(iii) shall be identification
of the reference or link, to material or activity claimed to be infringing,
that is to be
removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably
sufficient to permit the service provider to locate that reference or link.
`(e) LIMITATION ON LIABILITY OF NONPROFIT EDUCATIONAL
INSTITUTIONS- (1) When a public or other nonprofit institution of higher
education is a service provider, and when a faculty member or graduate student
who is an employee of such institution is performing a teaching or research
function, for the purposes of subsections (a) and (b) such faculty member
or graduate student shall be considered to be a person other than the institution,
and for the purposes of subsections (c) and (d) such faculty member's or
graduate student's knowledge or awareness of his or her infringing activities
shall not be attributed to the institution, if--
`(A) such faculty member's or graduate student's
infringing activities do not involve the provision of online access to instructional
materials that are or were required or recommended, within the preceding
3-year period, for a course taught at the institution by such faculty member
or graduate student;
`(B) the institution has not, within the preceding
3-year period, received more than 2 notifications described in subsection
(c)(3) of claimed infringement by such faculty member or graduate student,
and such notifications of claimed infringement were not actionable under
subsection (f); and
`(C) the institution provides to all users of its
system or network informational materials that accurately describe, and
promote compliance with, the laws of the United States relating to copyright.
`(2) INJUNCTIONS- For the purposes of this subsection,
the limitations on injunctive relief contained in subsections (j)(2) and
(j)(3), but not those in (j)(1), shall apply.
`(f) MISREPRESENTATIONS- Any person who knowingly
materially misrepresents under this section--
`(1) that material or activity is infringing, or
`(2) that material or activity was removed or disabled
by mistake or misidentification, shall be liable for any damages, including
costs and attorneys' fees, incurred by the alleged infringer, by any copyright
owner or copyright owner's authorized licensee, or by a service provider,
who is injured by such misrepresentation, as the result of the service provider
relying upon such misrepresentation in removing or disabling access to the
material or activity claimed to be infringing, or in replacing the removed
material or ceasing to disable access to it.
`(g) REPLACEMENT OF REMOVED OR DISABLED MATERIAL
AND LIMITATION ON OTHER LIABILITY-
`(1) NO LIABILITY FOR TAKING DOWN GENERALLY- Subject
to paragraph (2), a service provider shall not be liable to any person for
any claim based on the service provider's good faith disabling of access
to, or removal of, material or activity claimed to be infringing or based
on facts or circumstances from which infringing activity is apparent, regardless
of whether the material or activity is ultimately determined to be infringing.
`(2) EXCEPTION- Paragraph (1) shall not apply with
respect to material residing at the direction of a subscriber of the service
provider on a system or network controlled or operated by or for the service
provider that is removed, or to which access is disabled by the service
provider, pursuant to a notice provided under subsection (c)(1)(C), unless
the service provider--
`(A) takes reasonable steps promptly to notify
the subscriber that it has removed or disabled access to the material;
`(B) upon receipt of a counter notification described
in paragraph (3), promptly provides the person who provided the notification
under subsection (c)(1)(C) with a copy of the counter notification, and
informs that person that it will replace the removed material or cease disabling
access to it in 10 business days; and
`(C) replaces the removed material and ceases disabling
access to it not less than 10, nor more than 14, business days following
receipt of the counter notice, unless its designated agent first receives
notice from the person whosubmitted the notification under subsection (c)(1)(C)
that such person has filed an action seeking a court order to restrain the
subscriber from engaging in infringing activity relating to the material
on the service provider's system or network.
`(3) CONTENTS OF COUNTER NOTIFICATION- To be effective
under this subsection, a counter notification must be a written communication
provided to the service provider's designated agent that includes substantially
the following:
`(A) A physical or electronic signature of the
subscriber.
`(B) Identification of the material that has been
removed or to which access has been disabled and the location at which the
material appeared before it was removed or access to it was disabled.
`(C) A statement under penalty of perjury that
the subscriber has a good faith belief that the material was removed or
disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material to
be removed or disabled.
`(D) The subscriber's name, address, and telephone
number, and a statement that the subscriber consents to the jurisdiction
of Federal District Court for the judicial district in which the address
is located, or if the subscriber's address is outside of the United States,
for any judicial district in which the service provider may be found, and
that the subscriber will accept service of process from the person who provided
notification under subsection (c)(1)(C) or an agent of such person.
`(4) LIMITATION ON OTHER LIABILITY- A service provider's
compliance with paragraph (2) shall not subject the service provider to
liability for copyright infringement with respect to the material identified
in the notice provided under subsection (c)(1)(C).
`(h) SUBPOENA TO IDENTIFY INFRINGER-
`(1) REQUEST- A copyright owner or a person authorized
to act on the owner's behalf may request the clerk of any United States
district court to issue a subpoena to a service provider for identification
of an alleged infringer in accordance with this subsection.
`(2) CONTENTS OF REQUEST- The request may be made
by filing with the clerk--
`(A) a copy of a notification described in subsection
(c)(3)(A);
`(B) a proposed subpoena; and
`(C) a sworn declaration to the effect that the
purpose for which the subpoena is sought is to obtain the identity of an
alleged infringer and that such information will only be used for the purpose
of protecting rights under this title.
`(3) CONTENTS OF SUBPOENA- The subpoena shall authorize
and order the service provider receiving the notification and the subpoena
to expeditiously disclose to the copyright owner or person authorized by
the copyright owner information sufficient to identify the alleged infringer
of the material described in the notification to the extent such information
is available to the service provider.
`(4) BASIS FOR GRANTING SUBPOENA- If the notification
filed satisfies the provisions of subsection (c)(3)(A), the proposed subpoena
is in proper form, and the accompanying declaration is properly executed,
the clerk shall expeditiously issue and sign the proposed subpoena and return
it to the requester for delivery to the service provider.
`(5) ACTIONS OF SERVICE PROVIDER RECEIVING SUBPOENA-
Upon receipt of the issued subpoena, either accompanying or subsequent to
the receipt of a notification described in subsection (c)(3)(A), the service
provider shall expeditiously disclose to the copyright owner or person authorized
by the copyright owner the information required by the subpoena, notwithstanding
any other provision of law and
regardless of whether the service provider responds to the notification.
`(6) RULES APPLICABLE TO SUBPOENA- Unless otherwise
provided by this section or by applicable rules of the court, the procedure
for issuance and delivery of the subpoena, and the remedies for noncompliance
with the subpoena, shall be governed to the greatest extent practicable
by those provisions of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure governing the
issuance, service, and enforcement of a subpoena duces tecum.
`(i) CONDITIONS FOR ELIGIBILITY-
`(1) ACCOMMODATION OF TECHNOLOGY- The limitations
on liability established by this section shall apply to a service provider
only if the service provider--
`(A) has adopted and reasonably implemented, and
informs subscribers and account holders of the service provider's system
or network of, a policy that provides for the termination in appropriate
circumstances of subscribers and account holders of the service provider's
system or network who are repeat infringers; and
`(B) accommodates and does not interfere with standard
technical measures.
`(2) DEFINITION- As used in this subsection, the
term `standard technical measures' means technical measures that are used
by copyright owners to identify or protect copyrighted works and--
`(A) have been developed pursuant to a broad consensus
of copyright owners and service providers in an open, fair, voluntary, multi-industry
standards process;
`(B) are available to any person on reasonable
and nondiscriminatory terms; and
`(C) do not impose substantial costs on service
providers or substantial burdens on their systems or networks.
(j) INJUNCTIONS- The following rules shall apply
in the case of any application for an injunction under section 502 against
a service provider that is not subject to monetary remedies under this section:
`(1) SCOPE OF RELIEF- (A) With respect to conduct
other than that which qualifies for the limitation on remedies set forth
in subsection (a), the court may grant injunctive relief with respect to
a service provider only in one or more of the following forms:
`(i) An order restraining the service provider
from providing access to infringing material or activity residing at a particular
online site on the provider's system or network.
`(ii) An order restraining the service provider
from providing access to a subscriber or account holder of the service provider's
system or network who is engaging in infringing activity and is identified
in the order, by terminating the accounts of the subscriber or account holder
that are specified in the order.
`(iii) Such other injunctive relief as the court
may consider necessary to prevent or restrain infringement of copyrighted
material specified in the order of the court at a particular online location,
if such relief is the least burdensome to the service provider among the
forms of relief comparably effective for that purpose.
`(B) If the service provider qualifies for the
limitation on remedies described in subsection (a), the court may only grant
injunctive relief in one or both of the following forms:
`(i) An order restraining the service provider
from providing access to a subscriber or account holder of the service provider's
system or network who is using the provider's service to engage in infringing
activity and is identified in the order, by terminating the accounts of
the subscriber or account holder that are specified in the order.
`(ii) An order restraining the service provider
from providing access, by taking reasonable steps specified in the order
to block access, to a specific, identified, online location outside the
United States.
`(2) CONSIDERATIONS- The court, in considering
the relevant criteria for injunctive relief under applicable law, shall
consider--
`(A) whether such an injunction, either alone or
in combination with other such injunctions issued against the same service
provider under this subsection, would significantly burden either the provider
or the operation of the provider's system or network;
`(B) the magnitude of the harm likely to be suffered
by the copyright owner in the digital network environment if steps are not
taken to prevent or restrain the infringement;
`(C) whether implementation of such an injunction
would be technically feasible and effective, and would not interfere with
access to noninfringing material at other online locations; and
`(D) whether other less burdensome and comparably
effective means of preventing or restraining access to the infringing material
are available.
`(3) NOTICE AND EX PARTE ORDERS- Injunctive relief
under this subsection shall be available only after notice to the service
provider and an opportunity for the service provider to appear are provided,
except for orders ensuring the preservation of evidence or other orders
having no material adverse effect on the operation of the service provider's
communications network.
`(k) DEFINITIONS-
`(1) SERVICE PROVIDER- (A) As used in subsection
(a), the term `service provider' means 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.
`(B) As used in this section, other than subsection
(a), the term `service provider' means a provider of online services or
network access, or the operator of facilities therefor, and includes an
entity described in subparagraph (A).
`(2) MONETARY RELIEF- As used in this section,
the term `monetary relief' means damages, costs, attorneys' fees, and any
other form of monetary payment.
`(l) OTHER DEFENSES NOT AFFECTED- The failure of
a service provider's conduct to qualify for limitation of liability under
this section shall not bear adversely upon the consideration of a defense
by the service provider that the service provider's conduct is not infringing
under this title or any other defense.
`(m) PROTECTION OF PRIVACY- Nothing in this section
shall be construed to condition the applicability of subsections (a) through
(d) on--
`(1) a service provider monitoring its service
or affirmatively seeking facts indicating infringing activity, except to
the extent consistent with a standard technical measure complying with the
provisions of subsection (i); or
`(2) a service provider gaining access to, removing,
or disabling access to material in cases in which such conduct is prohibited
by law.
`(n) CONSTRUCTION- Subsections (a), (b), (c), and
(d) describe separate and distinct functions for purposes of applying this
section. Whether a service provider qualifies for the limitation on liability
in any one of those subsections shall be based solely on the criteria in
that subsection, and shall not affect a determination of whether that service
provider qualifies for the limitations on liability under any other such
subsection.'.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT- The table of sections
for chapter 5 of title 17, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
`512. Limitations on liability relating to material
online.'.
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