DMCA Takedown: How Soon is “Expeditiously”?
A client’s former employee / co-founder departed to form a competing business. Violating the client’s copyrights, he posted dozens of the client’s images on his website and blog. I sent takedown notices to the website’s and the blog’s service providers (see “Terms of Use and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act [DMCA]”). I wondered how expeditiously the service providers would respond.
17 USC Section 512(c)(1)(C) provides a “safe harbor” incentive for service providers to remove, or disable access to, infringing works expeditiously. Unfortunately, “expeditiously” is not defined (see “Defining Expeditious: Uncharted Territory of the DMCA Safe Harbor Provision“).
Louis Vuitton Wins $10.8 Million from ISPs
On August 28, a federal court jury awarded Louis Vuitton Malletier, S.A. $32.4 million in a suit against two Internet Service Providers and their owner. The suit alleged trademark and copyright infringement.
Louis Vuitton Wins at Trial
The jury concluded that:
- The ISPs knew, or should have known, that their customers were selling, online, counterfeit goods that infringed LV trademarks and copyrights.
- The ISPs willful contributed to sales of the counterfeit goods.
- The ISPs were not entitled to the “safe harbor” protections of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (see How Websites Can Avoid Liability for User-provided Content).
Terms of Use and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)
Recently, several clients with existing websites asked me to review their online Terms of Use (“TOU”). While the TOU were respectable, there were areas where each could be improved. Interestingly, the area where all of the clients had made mistakes was with regard to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (the “DMCA”). A summary of the DMCA is available from the U.S. Copyright Office. (more…)
