Blocking Orders Permissible Against ISPS

On January 1, 2019, the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) approved Amendment No. 5 to Israel's Copyright Law, which adds the following provisions:

1. Indirect copyright infringement by making copyright-protected content available to the public (new Section 48A);
2. Restriction of access to an internet site by court order (new Section 53A); and
3. Exposing the identity of copyright infringers on the internet and use of "orphan" works (new Part H1).

I. Indirect Infringement

An indirect infringer is a "person" who makes copyright-protected work available to the public after the work has already been made available to the public in an infringing manner by another party. A court can issue blocking orders against an indirect infringer if the infringer knew or should have known that the work was copyright-protected and that the original display of the work was an infringement.