Liability Of The Hosting Providers For Copyright Infringement

One of the most violated rights on the internet is copyright, and nowadays, works such as music, movies and cartoons are published by third parties on various websites, social media accounts, video watching and file-sharing platforms without the owners' permission. In fact, recently, the unauthorised sharing of cartoons by famous cartoonists on specific internet sites and the legal actions initiated by the authors of these works have created quite a stir; and the issue of legal and criminal liability of hosting providers arising from copyright violations on the internet was brought up.

Obligations and liabilities of hosting providers in our country are regulated in Law No. 5651 on the Publications on The Internet and Combating Crimes Committed Through Such Publication  ("Internet Law"). Accordingly, hosting providers are natural persons or legal entities who provide or operate the systems that host services and content. For example, video sharing platforms such as