Navigating the DMCA as a Content Owner, Creator or User

While YouTube has issued more than $1 billion in advertising payments to the music industry in the past year, many continue to question whether the online behemoth is doing enough to compensate rightsholders and protect them from piracy. At the heart of this dispute is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), the 1998 law that governs infringement liability for internet service providers. Led by John Tehranian, a founding partner with One LLP (an entertainment and intellectual property firm based in Southern California), this talk examines the history of the DMCA; the operation of its safe-harbor, takedown and liability regime; and the critiques of its operation from the point of view of content creators, owners, users and internet service providers. In the process, the talk will provide direction on navigating the DMCA’s murky waters, an understanding of various problems with the current law and an overview of the debate surrounding its reform.