Copyright Infringement and The Digital Millennium Copyright Act

Lara copies a picture she saw from a Yahoo! search and posted it to the net. Little did she know that since she did not give any credit to the source of the image, she has already committed a crime.

Copyright Infringement has always been an issue in the Internet. When do you use the internet legally, when do you not? This question is indeed very hard to answer, added the fact that the internet has limited restrictions and copyrighting with regards to its content.

It was in the year of 1998 wherein this issue has been given lit on. It was on October 28, 1988 when President Bill Clinton signed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA) which implements most of the Intellectual Property treaties that was on active before it. What makes DMCA more efficient is that it has a chapter that focuses most of the copyright related issues that is web and internet related. In other words, it has given more protection to the copyright holders that is providing their content on the web. It also gives limitations on the liability of online service providers for copyright infringement when engaging in certain types of activities. It has also given a broad protection on the original designs that is posted on the net. And lastly, it has set the standard and provisions on giving penalties to those found guilty of copyright infringement.

Is this good? Definitely! But of course not to those who are violating the law. But what about those who did not know that they have committed something illegal? Ignorance, they say, is not an excuse.

My personal suggestions, do not just copy content on the web. Much less without any permission. If this is unavoidable and the source of the said content is not reachable, give him credit. Thank him for the content. It wouldn't do you any harm.