DMCA Safe Harbor Protection Requires Action Under New Copyright Regulations

The US Copyright Office has promulgated new regulations that will take effect on December 1, 2016 regarding the "safe harbor" provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which will affect both internet service providers and others whose websites allow third parties to post content, such as chat rooms or discussion forums.¹ 

The regulations implement new electronic filing requirements for designating DMCA agents, as well as procedures requiring renewals at least every three years. Significantly, all persons who wish to institute or maintain the protection against copyright infringement liability afforded by the "DMCA safe harbor" must timely comply with the new electronic filing regulations—even if they have previously made their required hard copy filings with the Copyright Office—or risk losing their safe harbor protections.