Of course, typically institutions will want to keep the door open for as many defenses/safe harbors as possible. These safe harbors are, however, optional and an institution is free to ignore the procedures (and most of what is written in this document) if it chooses to forego the DMCA’s liability shelter and rely only on traditional copyright defenses (e.g., making a fair use argument). The ISP must follow certain procedures (for example, registering a Designated Agent with the US Copyright Office) if it wishes to avail itself of the safe harbors afforded by the DMCA. The DMCA tries to balance the needs of copyright holders whose digital works can be rapidly, perfectly, and infinitely copied and the liability of an ISP for its users’ infringing activity, all in the context of protecting intellectual property to promote innovation.Ĭopyright holders are responsible for identifying activity that infringes on their works, and sending a DMCA claim (see Section B, Question 4) to the ISP from which the alleged infringement came. In 1998, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) updated copyright law by providing the legal framework for how copyright holders make claims of copyright infringement in the digital world, given that only an Internet Service Provider (ISP) (e.g., a cable company, telephone company, college, university, etc.) has the records necessary to match an Internet Protocol (IP) address and time stamp to an individual. Take advantage of the EDUCAUSE Library among the many items found in this resource are model policies and campus plans, from which you can borrow to establish your own. Get in touch with others at your institution who have to deal with the DMCA or the HEOA peer-to-peer (P2P) provisions, such as campus counsel, student affairs, communications and marketing, government relations, and IT. Such a policy or process is required to qualify for the DMCA safe harbor under Section 512(c) and may also be something your institution uses to comply with the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA). Make sure you understand your institution’s policy and/or process for handling DMCA claims (assuming there is one-if not, see Section G, Question 24). Section 512(c), which protects the institution, as an Internet Service Provider (ISP), from liability for copyright infringement occurring on your network at the direction of users. Registering an Agent with the Copyright Office is necessary for your institution to avail itself of the DMCA’s safe harbor under 17 U.S.C. Register yourself as the institution’s Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Designated Agent with the U.S. First Steps for DMCA Designated Agents 1. I’m now the DMCA Designated Agent for my institution. This FAQ is intended to be a living document, and we welcome ideas for new questions or different approaches to answers. The authors hope the information contained herein is helpful, but even though it is filled with jargon, it cannot and must not substitute for proper legal, technical, or policy advice. The FAQ is not intended to be comprehensive rather, it strives to provide sufficient awareness to new Designated Agents and their institutional colleagues to avoid being blindsided in their role. You can use the referenced resources to delve further into the issues raised in this document. Our intent is to help you, the new Designated Agent (as well as your colleagues in student affairs, counsel’s office, and IT), quickly understand the scope of and issues raised by this role. This FAQ arose out of observing the same questions being raised and discussed over many years on discussion lists, but with no way for people new to the role of DMCA Designated Agent to gain from this wisdom except by searching through archives. FAQ for DMCA Designated Agents at Higher Education Institutionsīy Joseph Storch, Heidi Wachs, Kent Wada About the authors A Note from the Authors
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