Things You'll Need:
- Computer with Internet access
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Step 1
Read the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 to understand how laws affecting copyright infringement may be upheld in an online environment (see Resources below).
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Step 2
Learn that digital information is protected on both a national and international level through the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and its predecessors, the treaties set forth by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 1996. These treaties introduced the concept of preventing the circumvention of digital-protection measures set in place by copyright holders to protect their intellectual property both online and off.
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Step 3
Know that despite the WIPO treaties, there are still instances where circumvention of digital protection systems is allowed by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. These exceptions give non-profit libraries and archives the right to circumvent copyright protection software in order to determine whether the institution wishes to gain authorized access to the copyrighted material. It also permits the circumvention of any protection software that collects or disseminates personally identifying information regarding a user's online activities.
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Step 4
Understand that both of the WIPO treaties as well as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act require registration of material for copyright purposes before any legal action can be taken to control or prevent infringement.
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Step 5
Read more about general copyright laws to learn about how all copyrighted material is protected by visiting the United States Copyright Office (see Resources below). You will find information on how to register works of all kinds, including digital works.
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Step 6
Read Title II of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to learn about how your Internet service provider is given limited liability for copyright infringement undertaken by its users or subscribers in certain circumstances (see Resources below). As with all copyright-infringement cases, the burden of proof lies with the copyright holder, who must demonstrate that the use of the material was not in a fair use context and that the copyright has been materially infringed upon.
