CO Says DMCA Section 512 Safe Harbor 'Unbalanced,' In Lengthy, Long-Awaited Report
A long-awaited Copyright Office report on a key statute governing internet platforms said Digital Millennium Copyright Act Section 512 may need a revamp. The section's safe harbor operation "is unbalanced," CO said in a news release Thursday afternoon. "While the Office is not recommending any wholesale changes to section 512, the Report points out these and other areas where Congress may wish to consider legislation to rebuild the original balance between rightsholders and online service providers."
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"The balance Congress intended when it established the section 512 safe harbor system is askew," said the document's conclusion (see page 204). "The internet, in all its various component parts, has grown successfully and exponentially over the past two decades. However, despite the advances in legitimate content options and delivery systems, and despite the millions of takedown notices submitted on a daily basis, the scale of online copyright infringement and the lack of effectiveness of section 512 notices to address that situation remain significant problems."
The years-long study, the last requested of the CO in a prior Congress, is "the final output of the Office on topics related to the 2013-2015 copyright review hearings held by the House Judiciary Committee," the release said. Stakeholders we queried in the minutes after the document was released didn't have any immediate reaction.