Why are the Services of a DMCA Agent Important for You?
Although acquiring DMCA safe harbor can be a burden, the benefits of proper DMCA compliance are substantial. Few federal statutes provide a complete release of liability for a category of intellectual property infringement. It is extremely important to find an experienced DMCA agent that can guide you through DMCA safe harbor compliance, DMCA Law and protect you against potential legal issues.
An online service provider (OSP) may only qualify for the DMCA’s limitation on liability if it fulfills the threshold conditions of the statute by agreeing to do the following: identify and designate a DMCA agent, accommodate technical measures to protect copyrighted works, and adopt and implement a Repeat Infringer Policy. In order to facilitate the notification process required for safe harbor, OSPs must designate the name and contact information of an agent who will be responsible for receiving any infringement notices from copyright owners. This individual is known as the DMCA agent. Take down notices sent to the DMCA agent must include specific elements, but they essentially must state that the OSP’s network contains content that is infringing upon the owners’ intellectual property rights, and is therefore on the network illegally.
Upon appointing the DMCA agent, the OSP must file a notice of designation of agent with the U.S. Copyright Office, along with the required fee; effectually providing public notice of the relationship between the OSP and the agent. Unfortunately, this is a step that many OSPs tend to forgo, and the failure to properly designate the agency relationship with the Copyright Office may result in total loss of safe harbor protection. The information disclosed to the Copyright Office such as name, address, phone number, and email address, must also be made readily available to the public through the OSP’s service or website.
Merely posting the name of a person who has agreed to serve as your DMCA agent on your ‘’Contact Us’ page does not grant an OSP any safe harbor protection. However, many OSP’s, and particularly those located overseas who are not familiar with U.S. legal requirements, tend to assume that listing a DMCA agent constitutes a ‘magic shield’ that will protect them from any U.S. claimants seeking to impose monetary liability for third party generated content.
Full DMCA safe harbor protection is complicated to achieve. However, securing the services of a DMCA agent is a must if you run a website containing third party generated content. Finding an experienced DMCA agent from First Amendment Law (Walters Law Group), who also may serve the role of an adult industry lawyer for your adult website, could potentially save you from significant legal issues and expenses.