The DMCA is an abbreviation for the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which was signed into law in 1998. Now the big reason most people do no like this law is because it put in place questionable laws about circumnavigating copyright protection for personal backup use or the overall vagueness of the law in general. However, that really has nothing to do with web hosting – so I will not be discussing this issue today. The issue we will be talking about is the way the law made it easier for copyright holders to get stolen material off a website that doesn’t have the right to distribute it.
Are Web Hosts Protected in DMCA Cases?
What you might not know is that the DMCA has built in protection for web hosts, so they can not be held liable if a client is hosting a website breaking the DMCA. In exchange, the web host has to promptly remove or block access to the content in question.
What Are DMCA Take-down Notices
If you go from web host to web host, you will see the pages detailing how they deal with the DMCA and DMCA take-down notices are very similar. They will often ask for these details:
- The signature of the person claiming their copyrighted material was stolen
- Links or details about the copyrighted material that have been used elsewhere
- Your address, phone number and other contact details
- A statement by you that the copyrighted material is yours, and you wish for it to be taken down
Most of the time, in small claim situations, that is enough to get the infringed content off the website in question and you can go along your merry way. However, sometimes this will lead into a legal battle between the two parties (especially when the copyright of the material is not clear) but at that point you need to really be talking to a lawyer, and not to me.
I hope that helps to explain what the Digital Millennium Copyright is and how it pertains to web hosting companies.
Want More? – Check out the rest of the DMCA conversation in Podcast 210!
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