Viacom’s lawsuit against YouTube for copyright infringement was dismissed today, affirming the already strong protections offered to ISPs under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The DMCA’s so-called “safe harbor” offers internet service providers protection from liability for copyright infringement in exchange for a fast and simple “notice and takedown” procedure. There are limitations on that protection, including that the ISP not have “actual knowledge” of infringement. The court confirmed that “actual knowledge” means knowledge of a specific instance of copyright infringement, not just a general knowledge that users periodically post infringing content.
Of course, if users were only posting infringing content, the court may not have been quite so quick to dismiss. Just ask LimeWire.
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