Copyright Law and the Internet

The technological development of the internet opened the door for a new information era. Digital content is instantly accessible by billions of people, worldwide. However, this technology also created a wealth of opportunity for companies and people who want to illegally disseminate copyright-protected information, and then profit from that information. Copyright laws seek to protect copyright holders from infringement of their intellectual property rights. However, the laws do not always effectively protect copyright holders, and they need to be revised.

According to the United States Copyright Office, copyright is a form of legal protection, provided under Title 17 of the U. S. Code, to the authors of “original works of authorship” (“Copyright Basics”, 2012). This protection includes many unique categories, and covers both “published and unpublished literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works” (“Copyright Basics”, 2012). Copyright right protection for the holder actually begins automatically when the work is created; however, for additional protections (including the creation of a public record memorializing the right) copyright holders may register their works with the United States Copyright Office (“Copyright Basics”, 2012). Penalties for violation of copyright law include the recovery of actual damages, statutory damages of up to $150,000, and other damages (including attorneys’ fees and costs) (“Copyright Basics”, 2012). Infringers may also be criminally prosecuted for their violation of the federal law, and face varying prison sentences (“Copyright Law”, n.d.). This legislation serves as the framework to protect intellectual property rights.

Despite this legislation, copyright owners were initially reluctant to put their content on the internet (Krovitz, 2012). This inaction allegedly “opened the door for pirates to offer illegal content” to consumers to fill the content void (Krovitz, 2012). However, as the legislation changed, so did the practice of copyright owners. In 1998, legislators enacted the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“Digital Millennium”, 1998). This Act provided for a procedure whereby copyright holders may subpoena website operators to provide the identity of copyright infringers, facilitating prosecution against them (“Digital Millennium”, 1998). The Act also provides a mechanism for copyright holders to notify website operators of incidences of alleged copyright infringement (“Digital Millennium”, 1998). The website then has a legal obligation to remove the infringing content (“Digital Millennium”, 1998). Another important component of this legislation is that online operators are indemnified from criminal prosecution, so long as they implement (and comply) with “notice and take down” policies (“Digital Millennium”, 1998). According to Krovitz (2011), social media sites such as Facebook and YouTube remove more than 10,000 instances of copyright infringement each year. These actions, combined with the legislation, are designed to provide copyright holders with an added level of security for their copyright-protected content on the internet.

In fact, many internet companies work vehemently to protect intellectual property rights. One example can be found in Wikimedia, who has created policies to address this issue, and comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“Legal and Community”, 2013). In its policy, and in accordance with federal law, Wikimedia authorizes the removal of infringing content, and deletes infringer accounts (“Legal and Community”, 2013). However, Wikimedia has also taken a novel approach to copyright enforcement, above and beyond any requirements under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Since Wikimedia sites are populated by contributor content, and open to public revision and comment, Wikimedia policy provides that members of the general community may also remove infringing material from their websites (“Legal and Community,” 2013). This approach appears to improve the effectiveness and enforceability of copyright laws.

Copyright laws are most important to the Hollywood and the music industry that the laws protect. Recently these industries banded together to lobby Washington for laws that enforce copyright laws abroad. In response, legislators proposed the “Stop Online Piracy Act” in the House of Representatives, and its companion “Protect Intellectual Property Act” in the U.S. Senate (Krovitz, 2011). The legislation was aimed at highly regulating the internet and, in large part, sought to prohibit United States search engines from linking to websites that violate copyright laws (Krovitz, 2011). In an even more aggressive stance, the copyright holders asked that legislation mandate that the U.S. Justice Department require that infringing websites be deleted completely from the World Wide Web (Krovitz, 2012). However, many internet companies were unhappy with certain aspects of this legislation and fought back. In strong opposition to this legislation, multiple large internet search engines and content providers publicly responded in protest. The popular online information website, Wikipedia, closed its pages down for one full day (Krovitz, 2012). The internet search engine, Google, generally known for its “Google Doodles” to celebrate holidays or special events, obscured its own logo on the website (Krovitz, 2012; “About Doodles”, n.d.) Even Mark Zuckerburg, owner and Founder of the widely popular social media page, Facebook, commented on the matter using another social media site, Twitter (Krovitz, 2012). The general public responded just as feverously. According to Krovitz (2012), seven million people signed online petitions against the proposed legislation. This legislation was ultimately withdrawn, and the industry continues to evaluate how to best protect both the copyright holders, and the internet operators.

In the meantime, violations of intellectual property law fall under federal jurisdiction. The U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder, in conjunction with the United States Department of Justice, created a special Task Force on Intellectual Property to try and combat the increasing problem of intellectual property theft on the internet (Nat’l Press Releases, 2012). The mission of the IP Task Force is to coordinate law enforcement partners (federal, state and local) to provide heightened criminal and civil enforcement both domestically and abroad, resulting in strengthened intellectual property rights protection (“Intellectual Property”, n.d.). The task force is also designed to continue to develop policy as the “technological and legal landscape” of this area of law evolves (“Intellectual Property”, n.d.). The work of the IP Task Force is also part of a coordinated national effort, beginning and ending with The White House. The Office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, working under the Office of Management and Budget, is tasked with the coordination of a national strategic plan to combat against intellectual property violations (“About the Office”, n.d.). The Office “coordinates an administration-wide effort with federal agencies, law enforcement organizations, foreign governments, private companies, public interest groups, and others to develop and implement the best strategies.” (“About the Office, n.d.). The combined efforts of these entities often results in the identification and prosecution of copyright infringers.

Despite federal law, many companies still violate intellectual property laws on the internet. In what was reportedly the largest criminal copyright case ever, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) recently charged seven individuals and two corporations with “massive worldwide online piracy of numerous types of copyrighted works” (Nat’l Press Releases, 2012). According to the FBI, a website called Megaupload.com illegally offered copyright-protected content to registered users and visitors, causing what was reported in excess of half a billion dollars in harm to copyright owners (Nat’l Press Releases, 2012). Each of the defendants may face up to fifty years in prison for their various charges, including conspiracy to commit racketeering and criminal copyright infringement (Nat’l Press Releases, 2012). Instead of terminating infringing user accounts, Megaupload.com allegedly only selectively removed copyrighted materials from their servers (Nat’l Press Releases, 2012). The company also allegedly “duped” copyright holders by deliberately misleading them about the removal of infringing content (Nat’l Press Releases, 2012). After receiving a complaint regarding infringing content, the company allegedly only disabled selective links to the file, but left the infringing content in place so it was still available to users through duplicate links (Nat’l Press Releases, 2012). The company continued to profit off of copyright infringers, while failing to enforce existing copyright laws.

Unfortunately, internet companies claim that copyright enforcement is notably difficult on the internet. Google Inc., operator of arguably one of the largest search engines, frequently struggles with copyright issues (“The Problem”, 2012). The company invested over $30 million into a tool called, Content ID (“The Problem”, 2012). The software receives and registers information from content owners with valid copyright ownership rights (“The Problem”, 2012). The content owners subsequently decide whether to keep their protected content available on the internet, or have it removed completely (“The Problem”, 2012). This software is designed to help Google enforce intellectual property rights. However, Google also describes particular challenges with copyright law, as it is currently structured (“The Problem”, 2012). For example, the copyright to one single work may actually be owned by multiple people, and possibly in separate parts to a whole (“The Problem”, 2012). This proves especially problematic for companies like Google as they work to enforcement copyright protections. Another solution to copyright issues was recently launched by the news industry – NewsRight (Krovitz, 2012). This software tracks copyright violations online (Krovitz, 2012). The effectiveness of this software is still under review.

The question remains how to remedy the problem of intellectual copyright infringement. Some industry experts have proposed revising the existing laws to protect U.S. service providers when they cut off offending sites overseas, hopefully encouraging copyright compliance abroad (Krovitz, 2012). Another possibly solution is to accelerate the creation of a global registry of copyrights, which would facilitate the enforcement of U.S. copyright laws worldwide (Krovitz, 2012). The creation of such a database seems to be the most viable solution, as the centralization of copyright information appears to be a useful enforcement tool. However, the effectiveness of the database would only be as effective as the level of participation by registrants; if holders do not register with the database, then it is no more effective than existing remedies. It appears as if the challenge will continue for those who wish to protect intellectual property, and those who seek to enforce those protections. 

References

About Doodles. (n.d.). About Google Doodles. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/doodles/about

About the Office of the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC). (n.d.). The White House. Retrieved from http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/intellectualproperty/ipec/

Copyright Basics. (2012, May 1). Copyright. Retrieved from http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ01.pdf

Copyright Law of the United States of America. (n.d.). U.S. Copyright Office. Retrieved from http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html

Intellectual Property Task Force. (n.d.). USDOJ: DAG: Intellectual Property Task Force. Retrieved from http://www.justice.gov/dag/iptaskforce/

Krovitz, L. G. (2011, November 28). Horror Show: Hollywood vs. Silicon Valley; To protect copyright, the movie industry favors legislation that would strangle the Internet. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.fiu.edu/wallstreetjournal/docview/906128044/141FED271CE79E98DF4/11?accountid=10901

Krovitz, L. G. (2012, January 23). Information Age: Moore's Law Trumps More Law. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.fiu.edu/wallstreetjournal/docview/917139703/141FED271CE79E98DF4/5?accountid=10901

Legal and Community Advocacy/Legal Policies. (2013, August 19). Wikimedia-Meta Wiki. Retrieved from http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Privacy_policy

National Press Releases. (2012, January 19). Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved from http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/justice-department-charges-leaders-of-megaupload-with-widespread-online-copyright-infringement

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. (1998, December 1). www.copyright.gov. Retrieved from http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf

The Problem With Copyrights; Google's Susan Wojcicki and Sundar Pichai on why fighting piracy isn't as easy as some think. (2012, June 4). Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.fiu.edu/wallstreetjournal/docview/1018269581/141FED271CE79E98DF4/3?accountid=10901