If your company hosts or operates an interactive website that
allows users to post or upload materials, you need to have a
Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) policy. A DMCA policy gives
copyright owners the opportunity to complain if material posted on
your website by a user infringes their copyright. So long as you
comply with the terms of a properly designed policy, your company
will be shielded from liability for hosting a website that displays
infringing materials.
For those companies that already have published DMCA policies, a
recent change in the law will require you to take steps in the near
future to preserve your safe harbor protection. One of the
requirements to be eligible for the safe harbor is that companies
submit a form to the US Copyright Office identifying the name and
contact information of the person designated to receive copyright
takedown notices. Effective December 1, 2016, the original
designation form has been replaced with a new online
