Section 512 of Title 17: Resources on Online Service Provider Safe Harbors and Notice-and-Takedown System
Overview of Section 512
-
Notice — Rightsholder sends notice to online service provider regarding infringing material that appears on the online service provider’s system. -
Remove Access to Material — Online service provider must act expeditiously to remove or disable access to the infringing material. -
Notify User — Online service provider must then promptly notify the user that originally uploaded the material that it has been removed. -
Counter-notice — User may submit a counter-notice requesting the reinstatement of the material, if the user believes the removal was due to a mistake or misidentification. -
Restore Access or Initiate Court Action — Online service provider must restore access to the material after no less than 10 and no more than 14 business days, unless the original notice sender informs the service provider that it has filed a court action against the user.
Section 512 Notice-and-Takedown Frequently Asked Questions
-
Identification of the material you wish to have taken down, along with information that will help the OSP locate the material. -
Identification of the work you believe is being infringed. -
A statement that you have a good faith belief that the use of the work you believe is being infringed was not authorized by the copyright owner, an agent of the owner, or the law. -
Your contact information. The OSP needs to be able to reach you with any responses it receives from the user who posted the work you would like removed. -
A statement that everything contained in the takedown notice is accurate and that, under penalty of perjury, you are the copyright owner or have permission to act on the copyright owner’s behalf. -
Your signature. The signature can be physical or digital.
-
Once you are notified that access to the material has been disabled, you have two options: 1) do nothing and allow the material to stay offline, or 2) send what is called a “counter-notice” to the OSP explaining that your material was removed or disabled by mistake or as the result of misidentification (for example, because you have a valid license to use the work or the material does not include the work the rightsholder claims to have been infringed), and requesting that it be reposted. The specifics of what you must include in a counter-notice are listed in the next FAQ. -
Once an OSP receives your counter-notification, it will inform the rightsholder and may repost your material in “not less than ten, nor more than fourteen, business days” unless the rightsholder takes additional action against you. -
If, during this ten tofourteen day period, the rightsholder notifies the OSP that it has filed a lawsuit in court seeking to restrain you from infringing the copyrighted work(s) in question, the OSP cannot repost your material. -
If you knowingly make a material misrepresentation (that is, falsely assert) in your counter-notice that your materials were taken down improperly, you can be liable for any damages, costs, and attorneys’ fees incurred by the rightsholder and/or the OSP.
-
your physical or electronic signature; -
identification of the material that was removed or to which access was disabled, as well as the location where it previously appeared; -
a statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good faith belief that the material in question was removed or disabled improperly—that is, “as a result of mistake or misidentification”; and -
your contact information, as well as a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the federal district court for your judicial district (or, if you are located outside the United States, the OSP’s judicial district), as well as an agreement to accept service of process from the rightsholder who sent the takedown notice or that rightsholder’s agent.
-
All OSPs must (1) adopt and reasonably implement a policy to terminate repeat infringers (including users who have repeatedly had material taken down either under the notice-and-takedown process or as the result of the OSP’s own “red flag” knowledge of infringing activity, not necessarily as a result of having been found infringing in court); and (2) accommodate and not interfere with standard technical measures that identify or protect copyrighted works that have been developed according to broad consensus between copyright owners and OSPs, to the extent any such measures exist. -
If you serve as a mere conduit for automatic transmission of user communications, there are no other qualifications or obligations you need to meet. -
If you serve a caching function, in addition to the two requirements above, you must maintain comply with the notice-and-takedown process. This includes (1) designating an agent to receive DMCA takedown notices and registering this agent with the U.S. Copyright Office, (2) providing the contact information of your DMCA agent on your website in a place accessible to the public, and (3) responding expeditiously to remove or disable access to material claimed to be infringing upon receipt of a takedown notice from a rightsholder or its authorized agent, so long as that notice affirms that the material has been removed or disabled by the originating site or that a court has ordered that it be removed or disabled. -
If you serve a hosting or search/linking function, in addition to the two requirements above, you must maintain comply with the notice-and-takedown process. This includes (1) designating an agent to receive DMCA takedown notices and registering this agent with the U.S. Copyright Office, (2) providing the contact information of your DMCA agent on your website in a place accessible to the public, and (3) responding expeditiously to remove or disable access to material claimed to be infringing upon receipt of a valid takedown notice from a rightsholder or its authorized agent. In addition, you must also (1) remove or disable access to posted material when you have either “actual knowledge” of infringement or “awareness of facts or circumstances from which infringing activity is apparent” (known as “red flag” knowledge), and (2) not receive a financial benefit directly as a result of infringing activity, in a circumstance where you can control such activity. While you must act on actual knowledge or red flag knowledge of infringement, you do not have an affirmative obligation to monitor your service to search for infringement.
-
Legal Foundation (video) -
Current Technologies and Their STM Potential (video) -
Looking Forward (video)
-
Copyright on the Internet (video) -
Public Domain (video) -
Fair Use (video) -
Copyright Office Fair Use Index