защита авторского права

Determination of the DMCA

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) complements the US copyright law with directives that consider current technical achievements in the spheres of copying and distribution of information.

By applying the DMCA, copyright infringement through copying, as well as production and dissemination of technologies that allow for circumvention / deception of technical means of copyright protection are excluded from the limits of the legal field.

The foregoing act grants protection to providers who will no longer be responsible for the actions of users, while the responsibility for copyright infringement through the Internet will be toughened.

It is also worth noting that the above legal act was elaborated with a view to implementing the provisions of such WIPO treaties as: World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty  and WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty; the law was unanimously adopted by the US Senate on May 14, 1998, and signed by the US President Bill Clinton on October 28 of the same year. The European Union Copyright Directive (EUCD), that is similar to the abovementioned US act to a large extent, has legal force in the European Union.

In case of a copyright infringement, an application (complaint) is sent, and the site or page of this site on which the infringement data was discovered is removed (can be removed) from the Google search system or from the hosting.

The complaint/application is submitted to the hosting or Google, and when applying to the EU it is necessary to refer to the requirements of the directive, and the lack of a single form of the letter implies compliance with various requirements.

Sample of the complaint text №1:

My name is [NAME] and I am the duly authorized representative of Law&Trust International. A website that your company hosts (according to WHOIS information) is infringing on at least one copyright owned by my company.

An article was copied onto your servers without permission. The original ARTICLE/PHOTO [INDICATE], to which we own the exclusive copyrights, can be found at: [URL]

The unauthorized and infringing copy can be found at: [URL]

This letter is official notification under Section 512(c) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (”DMCA”), and I seek the removal of the aforementioned infringing material from your servers. I request that you immediately notify the infringer of this notice and inform them of their duty to remove the infringing material immediately, and notify them to cease any further posting of infringing material to your server in the future.

Please also be advised that law requires you, as a service provider, to remove or disable access to the infringing materials upon receiving this notice. Under the US law a service provider, such as yourself, enjoys immunity from a copyright lawsuit provided that you act with deliberate speed to investigate and rectify ongoing copyright infringement. If service providers do not investigate and remove or disable the infringing material this immunity is lost. Therefore, in order for you to remain immune from a copyright infringement action you will need to investigate and ultimately remove or otherwise disable the infringing material from your servers with all due speed should the direct infringer, your client, not comply immediately.

I am providing this notice in good faith and with the reasonable belief that rights my company owns are being infringed. Under penalty of perjury I certify that the information contained in the notification is both true and accurate, and I have the authority to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright(s) involved.

Should you wish to discuss this with me please contact me directly.

Thank you.
[NAME]
Address City, State Zip, Phone, E-mail

What is the content of the complaint and to whom should it be submitted?

The complaint is accepted by the organization providing hosting to the site of the infringer of the copyright.

The following should mandatorily be attached to the complaint:

  • Sufficient information for the provider so that he has the opportunity to contact the party that lodges the complaint (addresses, e-mail, telephone).
  • Attachment of the information specifying the material (text and link) that violates the rights, and the foregoing information should be sufficient for the provider to be able, in turn, to figure out the material infringing the copyrights.
  • There should be attached the indication that the information provided is accurate and the party filing the complaint has the right to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright under threat of punishment and fine.
  • Attachment of a statement confirming that the complaining party has a good faith belief that the use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner.
  • Attachment of the indication of work protected by copyright (text and link), confirmation of copyright on the site.
  • It is necessary to attach physical or electronic signature of the person authorized by the copyright owner who believes that his rights have been violated (the host is notified in advance regarding the absence of a signature from you).

The foregoing list will be partially different, since there is no single consistent form of the complaint between Google and other hosting companies.

For example, Weebly has a specific form with all the information -

Sample of the complaint text №2:

Pursuant to 17 USC 512(c)(3)(A), this communication serves as a statement that:

I am [Name of complainant] the duly authorized representative of the exclusive rights

holder (Law&Trust International company) for the following materials: [Designation of the materials protected by copyright law with full information about them];

1.These exclusive rights are being violated by material available upon your site at the following URL(s): [URL of infringing materials];

2. I have a good faith belief that the use of this material in such a fashion is not authorized by the copyright holder, the copyright holder's agent, or applicable law;

3. Under penalty of perjury in the United States court of law, I certify that the information contained in this notification is accurate, and that I am authorized to act on behalf of the holder of the exclusive rights to the material in question;

4. I may be contacted by the following methods: [contact details (all of them)];

I hereby request that you remove or disable access to this material as it appears on your service in as expedient a fashion as possible. Thank you.

Regards,

[Name of complainant]

Lawyers of Law&Trust International are ready to provide assistance for the correct filing of the complaint, as well as bringing to responsibility the site that violated your copyrights.