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ARTICLE · 12 DECEMBER 2016

New Copyright Office Rule Creates Potential "Gotcha" For Blogs And Websites Hosting User-Generated Content

Morrison Foerster
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If your company operates a website or blog that hosts user-generated content, you'll want to read this post carefully.

United StatesIntellectual Property
John Delaney
John Delaney
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If your company operates a website or blog that hosts user-generated content, you'll want to read this post carefully.

We're ringing the alarm bell on an important new U.S. copyright law development that, if ignored, could significantly increase your company's potential liability exposure in connection with user-generated content.

If your company hosts user-generated content, such hosted content may include materials that were posted without the permission of the owners of the copyrights in such materials—potentially subjecting your company to copyright infringement liability.

For nearly two decades, however, Section 512(c) of the U.S. Copyright Act, enacted in 1998 as part of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), has provided a safe harbor insulating online service providers from monetary damages for hosting copyright-infringing materials posted by their users. To receive protection under the Section 512(c) safe harbor, service providers must, among

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