Section 512 of Title 17 a Report of the Register of Copyrights May 2020 United States Copyright Office
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united states copyright office section 512 of title 17 a report of the register of copyrights may 2020 united states copyright office section 512 of title 17 a report of the register of copyrights may 2020 U.S. Copyright Office Section 512 Report ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The publication of this Report is the final output of several years of effort by the Copyright Office to assist Congress with evaluating ways to update the Copyright Act for the 21st century. The genesis of this Report occurred in the midst of the two years of copyright review hearings held by the House Judiciary Committee that spanned the 113th and 114th Congresses. At the twentieth and final hearing in April 2015, the Copyright Office proposed several policy studies to aid Congress in its further review of the Copyright Act. Two studies already underway at the time were completed after the hearings: Orphan Works and Mass Digitization (2015), which the Office later supplemented with a letter to Congress on the “Mass Digitization Pilot Program” (2017), and The Making Available Right in the United States (2016). Additional studies proposed during the final hearing that were subsequently issued by the Office included: the discussion document Section 108 of Title 17 (2017), Section 1201 of Title 17 (2017), and Authors, Attribution, and Integrity: Examining Moral Rights in the United States (2019). The Office also evaluated how the current copyright system works for visual artists, which resulted in the letter to Congress titled “Copyright and Visual Works: The Legal Landscape of Opportunities and Challenges” (2019). Shortly after the hearings ended, two Senators requested a review of the role of copyright law in everyday consumer products and the Office subsequently published a report, Software-Enabled Computer Products (2016). Finally, two of our prior studies that were highlighted at that April 2015 hearing, Copyright Small Claims (2013) and Copyright and the Music Marketplace (2015), turned into legislative opportunities, with the 2018 passage of the Orrin G. Hatch-Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act (MMA), and the 2019 passage by the House of Representatives of the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act (CASE Act). This Report on section 512 is the final study to emerge from that set of congressional hearings. It is also the first comprehensive study issued by a U.S. government agency on the operation of section 512. Complex issues are involved: the operation of copyright liability in the online environment has tremendous legal, social, economic, and technological implications. Courts have been issuing decisions on various elements of section 512 for two decades. Changes in technology and business models used to create and disseminate copyrighted materials continues to grow in ways that could not have been imagined in 1998 when the Digital Millennium Copyright Act was passed. It should surprise no one that this issue and this docket have generated considerable public interest. I would like to thank the many individuals and organizations who participated in roundtables and provided comments and empirical studies to aid the Office in this process. This Report is the culmination of years of work; we have looked at the past, evaluated the present, and identified important issues, themes, and consideration for next steps. The laboring oar on this Report has been wielded by the legal staff of the Office of Policy and International Affairs, who helped write the very first Federal Register notice, attended all of the roundtables, reviewed the record, developed its structure, researched the issues and identified paths forward, and wrote the bulk of this Report. This endeavor has involved many discussions U.S. Copyright Office Section 512 Report with, and has benefited greatly from, colleagues throughout the Office. The input and assistance of the Office of General Counsel, in particular, helped to guide and structure this Study, including through their participation in all of the roundtables and work on Federal Register notices and early drafts of the Report. Indeed, this Report represents the contributions of numerous current colleagues as well as those who have since left the office, including: senior leaders, staff attorneys, Ringer Program Fellows, law clerks serving in both Policy and International Affairs and the Office of General Counsel, as well as support assistants and production designers. To be certain, this Report, like all of the reports, studies, and legal opinions issued by the Copyright Office, is the work of the Copyright Office. For more than half of the time this docket was open, the Copyright Office has been led by an Acting Register of Copyrights. That fact does not change the nature of any document issued by the Office. We are driven by our commitment to provide expert legal advice to Congress on domestic and international copyright matters. 17 U.S.C. § 701(b)(1). It is an honor to work with our team of professionals dedicated to public service. Given the current COVID-19 challenges, they have done a spectacular job to complete and produce this Report. While we will not be able to distribute print versions to Congress at this time, this Report, as with our prior reports, will be posted online at www.copyright.gov/policy/section512/. Maria Strong Acting Register of Copyrights and Director, U.S. Copyright Office May 21, 2020 U.S. Copyright Office Section 512 Report EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................. 1 I. INTRODUCTION AND STUDY HISTORY ........................................................................................ 8 II. HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF SECTION 512 ..................................................................... 13 A. Pre-DMCA Legal and Policy Landscape .................................................................................... 13 B. Congress Sought to Achieve a Balance with the DMCA .......................................................... 18 C. General Overview of Section 512 ................................................................................................. 21 1. Secondary Liability .................................................................................................................. 21 2. OSPs and Safe Harbors ........................................................................................................... 23 3. Limitations on Relief and Eligibility for Safe Harbors ....................................................... 24 4. Notice-and-Takedown Process .............................................................................................. 25 a) Takedown Notice .............................................................................................................. 25 b) Knowledge and Financial Benefit ................................................................................... 26 5. Counter-Notification ............................................................................................................... 27 III. POST-DMCA CHANGES TO THE ONLINE ECOSYSTEM .......................................................... 27 A. Technological Changes Since the 1990s Have Changed the Landscape in which Section 512 Operates ...................................................................................................... 27 B. Past Efforts to Address Changes to the Online Landscape ...................................................... 35 1. Voluntary Agreements Adopted by the Marketplace ........................................................ 35 a) Examples of Best Practices ............................................................................................... 36 b) Examples of Formal Agreements .................................................................................... 39 2. Private Initiatives ..................................................................................................................... 42 a) Educational Outreach about Access to Legal Content ................................................. 42 b) Filtering ............................................................................................................................... 42 c) Trusted Notifier Programs ............................................................................................... 46 3. Government Inquiries and Reports....................................................................................... 47 a) Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator ........................................................... 47 b) Internet Policy Task Force ................................................................................................ 49 IV. HOW OTHER COUNTRIES HAVE TRIED TO STRIKE THE BALANCE................................... 50 A. Notice Systems ................................................................................................................................ 52 1. Notice-and-Notice.................................................................................................................... 52 2. Graduated Response ............................................................................................................... 53 3. Notice-and-Staydown ............................................................................................................. 54 B. Verified Systems ............................................................................................................................