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DMCA and LJ: a primer
Oct. 27th, 2007 10:03 amSomeone on my Friends List was recently the recipient of a DMCA copyright violation notice. The material in question was a list of works only so that's kind of strange and all, not to mention reminiscent of recent shenanigans by the SFWA. But what really got my attention was reading some of the responses to this person's post about the incident. For all the problems fandom has been having on LJ, many people still seem to be incredibly unaware of how a DMCA complaint actually works. The page with the information is here, but let me go over some of the basics:
1) DMCA complaints are not the same as reporting other violations to LJ Abuse. Assuming the complaint is received in the correct format (more on that below), LJ's first step must be to request that the material be taken down. This is not 6A policy so much as what is required by law.
2) Not just anybody can make a DMCA complaint. The complainant must be either the person whose copyright was violated or someone legally permitted to represent that person. This means that a person can't make such complaints anonymously, and must provide a certain amount of contact information. Could this be fudged? Certainly. I have no idea what LJ's standards are for the level of identifying information required, only that they do require some.
3) Again, once the complaint in the correct format has been received, LJ has no choice but to tell the alleged violator that a complaint has been made and request that the specified material be taken down. This is not a judgment of the reasonableness of the complaint, this is what they are required to do. Contesting the reasonableness of the complaint requires filing a counter notification.
4) Filing a counter-claim means providing your name, address and telephone number.At what point this information might be provided to the original complainant is something I'm not aware of, but the information is probably collected so that the complainant would have access to it for legal proceedings. This information is then provided to the complainant by LJ. [edited 10-30-07]
How the process works past this point is not something I'm familiar with, including what happens to those who are found to be making false complaints, and as it probably needs to be said out loud, I Am Not A Lawyer. I didn't need to be one to understand these concepts and neither do you. My first experience with someone I knew on LJ receiving a DMCA complaint was completely unrelated to fandom. I could find myself affected by this. So could you.
And in the whole IANAL vein: if anyone has corrections or clarifications to what I've stated here I would really appreciate it. My intent with this post is to get information out, and I care more about it being correct information than I do about looking like an idiot.
1) DMCA complaints are not the same as reporting other violations to LJ Abuse. Assuming the complaint is received in the correct format (more on that below), LJ's first step must be to request that the material be taken down. This is not 6A policy so much as what is required by law.
2) Not just anybody can make a DMCA complaint. The complainant must be either the person whose copyright was violated or someone legally permitted to represent that person. This means that a person can't make such complaints anonymously, and must provide a certain amount of contact information. Could this be fudged? Certainly. I have no idea what LJ's standards are for the level of identifying information required, only that they do require some.
3) Again, once the complaint in the correct format has been received, LJ has no choice but to tell the alleged violator that a complaint has been made and request that the specified material be taken down. This is not a judgment of the reasonableness of the complaint, this is what they are required to do. Contesting the reasonableness of the complaint requires filing a counter notification.
4) Filing a counter-claim means providing your name, address and telephone number.
How the process works past this point is not something I'm familiar with, including what happens to those who are found to be making false complaints, and as it probably needs to be said out loud, I Am Not A Lawyer. I didn't need to be one to understand these concepts and neither do you. My first experience with someone I knew on LJ receiving a DMCA complaint was completely unrelated to fandom. I could find myself affected by this. So could you.
And in the whole IANAL vein: if anyone has corrections or clarifications to what I've stated here I would really appreciate it. My intent with this post is to get information out, and I care more about it being correct information than I do about looking like an idiot.
