U.S. Copyright Office Section 512 Study: Comments in Response to Notice of Inquiry

Abstract

These comments were prepared and submitted in response to the U.S. Copyright Office's December 31, 2015 Notice and Request for Public Comment on the impact and effectiveness of the DMCA safe harbor provisions in Section 512 of Title 17. Of the 30 questions posed in the Notice, we respond to almost half, addressing (1) the overall effectiveness of the safe harbors in balancing stakeholder interests and promoting innovation in online products and services, (2) the operation of the notice-and-takedown process and the problems associated with a proposed "notice-and-staydown" policy, (3) the adequacy of the DMCA's counter-notice provisions to protect non-infringing user expression, (4) the soundness of judicial interpretations of legal standards relating to service providers' knowledge and control of users' infringements, and (5) the effectiveness of service providers' repeat infringer policies in light of the statute's lack of specificity concerning this requirement.

Keywords: DMCA, Copyright Office, 17 USC 512, safe harbors, intermediary liability, copyright, piracy, infringement