Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA)

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act1 (DMCA) was signed into law by President Clinton on October 28, 1998. The DMCA is a dramatic change to copyright law in that it updates the copyright law for the digital environment. It also implements two 1996 World Intellectual Property Organization treaties.

Two parts of the DMCA is of particular importance to EMU: the limitations on infringement liability for "service providers," and the prohibitions on circumvention of technological protection measures (TPMs)

Limitation on Infringement Liability for "Service Providers"

Title II of the DMCA (section 512 of the Copyright Act, as amended, enacted on November 3, 1998) establishes certain limitations of copyright infringement liability for online service providers (OSPs). The DMCA provides protection from liability if certain actions are taken by the university and also provides takedown procedures for materials on our web servers.

To be protected under the DMCA Act we have registered an agent with the Copyright Office, Connie Schaffer, Interim Chief Information Officer. We have also developed and posted our copyright policies. ATCS/ICT policies and guidelines are available at:
http://www.emich.edu/web_standards_guide/acceptable_use_policy.html

To report infringements on websites at EMU please go to
http://www.emich.edu/halle/copyright/copyrightinfringements.html

For more information on the DMCA please go to:

The UCLA Online Institute for Cyberspace Law and Policy:The Digital Millennium Copyright Act
http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/iclp/dmca1.htm

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. US Copyright Office Summary December 1998.
http://www.loc.gov/copyright/legislation/dmca.pdf [Adobe Acrobat Reader Required]