UGC Uncertainty Consternation Continues

Amended 9th Circuit Decision Does Not Clarify the Extent to Which Service Providers Can Manually Screen for Inappropriate User Content

In April 2017, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals startled online service providers that allow users to post content (known as UGC, or user-generated content), by holding that the use of moderators to screen out inappropriate UGC before the UGC becomes publicly available could cause the service provider to lose the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) safe harbor under 17 U.S.C. Section 512(c), which insulates service providers from third-party copyright infringement claims arising out of the UGC. This is a common practice, especially for brands that run UGC contests and children's or family sites. Service providers have long understood that, unlike the immunity granted them for most non-intellectual property claims other than certain federal law violations arising out of UGC under the Section 230(c)(1) of the Communications Decency