U.S. Copyright Office

The law can protect internet services against copyright suits over content that their users upload.  One thing that an internet service has to do to be protected is to take down infringing material as soon as it receives a takedown notice. You don’t get any protection if you don’t designate an agent to receive takedown notices.  The law requires you to appoint an agent, to put the agent’s contact information on your web site, and also to file the contact information with the U.S. Copyright Office.  You can just fill out a form and send it in. There’s also a fee of $105. Appointing an agent won’t protect you retroactively.  You have to appoint the agent before the copyright infringement occurs.  If you don’t, then the copyright owner can sue you directly for the infringing material that your users uploaded to your site.

Please visit the latest issue of Valley Business Front April [PDF link] for the full discussion of how to shield your web content from copyright lawsuits.

And if you’re interested in learning more about how to keep your business’s digital both public and protected, join us at our next round of Shark Bites this month.