No. 03-1911
IN THE
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
____________________
COSTAR GROUP, INC. AND
COSTAR REALTY INFORMATION, INC.,
Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v.
LOOPNET INC.,
Defendant-Appellee.
_____________________
On Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of Maryland
_____________________
BRIEF OF APPELLANTS
_____________________
WALTER DELLINGER
JONATHAN D. HACKER
O'MELVENY & MYERS LLP
1625 Eye Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20006
(202) 383-5300
Counsel for Appellants
CORPORATE DISCLOSURE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES ..................................................................................ii
INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................1
JURISDICTIONAL STATEMENT ........................................................................4
STATEMENT OF THE ISSUES ............................................................................4
STATEMENT OF THE CASE...............................................................................5
STATEMENT OF FACTS .....................................................................................8
SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT.............................................................................13
ARGUMENT........................................................................................................15
I. SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON DIRECT INFRINGEMENT
SHOULD BE REVERSED BECAUSE LOOPNET DOES NOT
QUALIFY FOR THE DMCA'S NETCOM SAFE HARBOR AND
THERE IS NO BASIS IN LAW FOR IMPOSING AN
INDEPENDENT, CATEGORICAL BAR TO DIRECT
INFRINGEMENT CLAIMS AGAINST "PASSIVE" ISPs ........................16
A. Netcom Was A Policy-Based, Special Rule Of Protection From
Copyright Liability For ISPs.............................................................16
B. Netcom's Special, Policy-Based Protections Were "Codified" In
The DMCA.......................................................................................21
C. The District Court Erred In Applying Netcom As A Categorical
Immunity From Direct Infringement Claims Independent Of
The DMCA Netcom-Type Safe Harbor Immunity.............................30
D. Absent Netcom Immunity, LoopNet Was Not Entitled To
Summary Judgment On Its Direct Infringement Claims ....................35
II. LOOPNET DOES NOT QUALIFY FOR NETCOM IMMUNITY
EVEN UNDER NETCOM'S OWN TERMS BECAUSE LOOPNET
IS NOT A "PASSIVE" ISP.........................................................................39
CONCLUSION.....................................................................................................47
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
Page(s)
CASES
A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, 239 F.3d 1004 (9th Cir. 2001)..............................26
ALS Scan, Inc. v. RemarQ Communities, Inc., 239 F.3d 619 (4th Cir.
2001)....................................................................................................passim
Continental Airlines, Inc. v. United Airlines, Inc., 277 F.3d 499 (4th
Cir. 2002)....................................................................................................16
CoStar Group, Inc. v. LoopNet, Inc., 164 F. Supp. 2d 688 (D. Md.
2001).............................................................................................................6
Fitzgerald Pub. Co. v. Baylor Pub. Co., 807 F.2d 1110 (2d Cir. 1986) .................17
Fonovisa, Inc. v. Cherry Auction, Inc., 76 F.3d 259 (9th Cir. 1996) ......................26
Keeler Brass Co. v. Continental Brass Co., 862 F.2d 1063 (4th Cir.
1988)...........................................................................................................16
Marobie-FL, Inc. v. National Ass'n of Fire Equip. Distribs., 983 F.
Supp. 1167 (N.D. Ill. 1997).................................................................... 21,26
Playboy Enterprises, Inc. v. Frena, 839 F. Supp. 1552 (M.D. Fla.
1993)....................................................................................... 17,18,27,28,37
Playboy Enterprises, Inc. v. Russ Hardenburgh, Inc., 982 F. Supp.
503 (N.D. Ohio 1997) .................................................................. 15,37,42,43
Playboy Enterprises, Inc. v. Webbworld, Inc., 991 F. Supp. 543 (N.D.
Tex. 1997)...................................................................................................43
Polygram Int'l Publ'g, Inc. v. Nevada/TIG, Inc., 855 F. Supp. 1314,
1325 (D. Mass. 1994)............................................................................. 17,26
Religious Technology Center v. Netcom On-Line Communications
Services, Inc., 907 F. Supp. 1361 (N.D. Cal. 1995) ..............................passim
Sega Enterprises, Ltd. v. MAPHIA, 857 F. Supp. 679 (N.D. Cal. 1994) ................22
Sega Enterprises, Ltd. v. MAPHIA, 948 F. Supp. 923 (N.D. Cal. 1996) ................21
ii
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES (cont.)
Page(s)
STATUTES AND CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS
U.S. Const., art. I, § 8, cl. 8.....................................................................................3
17 U.S.C. § 512.....................................................................................................22
17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(1)............................................................................................25
17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(2)............................................................................................25
17 U.S.C. § 512 (i)(1)(A) ......................................................................................25
17 U.S.C. § 512(l).................................................................................................33
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 105-796 (1998) ....................................................................24
H.R. Rep. No. 105-551(I) (1998) ..........................................................................26
H.R. Rep. No. 105-551(II) (1998) ............................................................... 22,23,30
S. Rep. No. 105-190 (1998) ................................................................... 22,23,26,30
OTHER AUTHORITIES
Black's Law Dictionary (7th ed. 1999)..................................................................33
Jane C. Ginsburg, Putting Cars On the "Information Superhighway":
Authors, Exploiters, and Copyright In Cyberspace, 95 Colum.
L. Rev. 1466 (1995) ....................................................................................37
Paul Goldstein, Copyright Law (2d ed. Supp. 2000) ........................................ 23,26
Paul Goldstein, Copyright, Patent, Trademark and Related State
Doctrines (2002) .........................................................................................38
Information Infrastructure Task Force, Intellectual Property and the
National Information Infrastructure: Report of the Working Group
on Intellectual Property Rights (1995) ........................................................37
Melville B. Nimmer & David Nimmer, Nimmer on Copyright (2003) ...........passim
Webster's Third New Int'l Dictionary (3d ed. rev. 1993) ......................................33
iii
INTRODUCTION
This case is another in a recent, well-publicized line of cases implicating the
intersection of copyright law and the Internet.
The district court in this case summarily dismissed the direct copyright
infringement claim of plaintiffs-appellants CoStar Group, Inc. and CoStar Realty
Information, Inc. (collectively "CoStar"), against defendant-appellee LoopNet Inc.
("LoopNet"), on the ground that LoopNet, as an assertedly "passive" provider of
Internet access and hosting services, is entitled to a categorical and conclusive
immunity from direct copyright infringement claims based on material posted on
LoopNet's website. The court derived this categorical immunity from Religious
Technology Center v. Netcom On-Line Communications Services, Inc., 907 F.
Supp. 1361 (N.D. Cal. 1995), which had devised a special new rule of copyright
infringement applicable to actions against Internet service providers ("ISPs"): if
the ISP provides only "passive" services, the ISP cannot be held liable for direct
infringement as a matter of law. This special immunity was based on the Netcom
court's concern that, if traditional direct infringement principles are applied
literally to ISPs, copyright liability could be spread through the Internet as fast as
data can flow from one computer to the next.
Not long after the Netcom court devised its own unique solution to the
problem of potentially limitless copyright liability for ISPs, Congress addressed the very same problem in the 1998 Digital Millenium Copyright Act ("DMCA").
Congress's solution to the policy problem addressed in Netcom was not a
categorical bar to certain claims against passive ISPs, but instead a "safe harbor"
immunity from liability for which any ISP can qualify if it meets certain conditions
conditions that ensure that any ISP that cannot fairly be held responsible for
material it distributes or displays will not be subjected to infringement liability.
The necessary implication of the DMCA's structure is that if the ISP does not
qualify for the statutory safe harbor, it is not within the category of ISPs that
Congress deemed qualified for special, policy-based protections.
It is undisputed that LoopNet does not qualify for the DMCA safe harbor as
to many of the infringing photographs displayed on its website. CoStar therefore
should have been able to proceed with its claims of direct infringement as to those
photographs. But the district court did not allow those claims to proceed. Rather
than evaluate the factual record or legal analysis supporting those claims, the court
held them barred at the threshold, on the basis of the special ISP-protecting rule
proposed by the district judge in Netcom.
The question thus presented is whether an ISP that does not qualify for the
legislatively prescribed immunity from direct infringement liability can
nevertheless seek shelter in a more sweeping, judge-made immunity from the same
liability. This Court answered that question squarely in the negative in ALS Scan,
2
Inc. v. RemarQ Communities, Inc., 239 F.3d 619 (4th Cir. 2001), which holds that
an ISP's defense to liability under the principles of Netcom must be evaluated
exclusively under the terms of the DMCA, id. at 622.
As ALS Scan recognizes, Congress addressed and resolved in the DMCA the
new problems of potentially expansive copyright liability presented in the early
Internet era. The DMCA gives courts a scalpel with which to carve out an
immunity from infringement claims for specifically qualified ISPs. By contrast,
the Netcom rule followed by just a handful of courts prior to Congress's entry
into the field was a bludgeon that allowed courts simply to wipe out all direct
infringement claims against any ISP deemed by the court to be "passive." The
bludgeon approach may well have made sense in the early days of the Internet,
when the threat of endless copyright liability was real. But that was before
Congress the entity with exclusive power under the Constitution to make the
laws governing copyrights, U.S. Const. art. I § 8, cl. 8 took convincing steps in
the DMCA to confront and mitigate that threat, while still respecting and
protecting the rights of copyright owners to prevent unauthorized uses and displays
of their works in the digital environment. Judicial application of Netcom immunity
to an ISP that does not qualify for the DMCA's more nuanced version of Netcom
immunity contradicts and undermines that careful statutory balance. Accordingly,
3
the decision of the court below to grant LoopNet a categorical Netcom immunity
from direct infringement claims is incorrect and should be reversed.
JURISDICTIONAL STATEMENT
This action arises under the federal Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101
et seq.; accordingly, the district court had exclusive jurisdiction pursuant to 28
U.S.C. § 1331 & 1338(a). On June 23, 2003, the district court issued a final order
entering judgment against CoStar on its claim of direct infringement, and
dismissing all other claims pursuant to joint stipulation of the parties. CoStar filed
a timely notice of appeal on July 22, 2003. This Court has jurisdiction pursuant to
28 U.S.C. § 1291.
STATEMENT OF ISSUES
on CoStar's claim of direct infringement solely on the basis of Religious
Technology Center v. Netcom On-Line Communications Services, Inc., 907 F.
Supp. 1361 (N.D. Cal. 1995), a pre-DMCA decision holding that a "passive"
Internet service provider is categorically immune from direct infringement claims,
regardless of their underlying merit.
2. Assuming Netcom's categorical bar to direct infringement claims against
"passive" ISPs remains viable after the enactment of the DMCA, whether such a
4 bar applies to LoopNet, which engages in a personal, human review and approval
of each and every photograph before it is displayed on LoopNet's website.
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
This appeal arises out of an action by CoStar against LoopNet for direct and
contributory copyright infringement, violation of the federal Lanham Act, and
various pendent state-law causes of action. CoStar filed the action in September
1999, after it discovered that scores, and eventually hundreds, of CoStar's
copyrighted photographs were displayed on LoopNet's commercial website, and
after LoopNet refused or failed to remove them after several requests. On
December 8, 1999, LoopNet for the first time appointed an agent to receive
notifications of potential infringements, as ISPs are required to do before they can
assert immunity from copyright liability under the DMCA. JA29 n.4.1 LoopNet
subsequently claimed DMCA immunity for all infringing displays after December
8, 1999, but admitted that it did not qualify for immunity under the statute for any
displays prior to that date. Id.
On March 14, 2000, the district court issued a preliminary injunction
requiring LoopNet to remove all photographs as to which it had received
infringement notifications from CoStar and to take certain steps preventing repeat
infringements by LoopNet's users. Because CoStar continued to find infringing
1 Material included in the Joint Appendix is cited "JA." Material cited from the record below is identified by its district court docket number, e.g., Doc. 71.
5 photographs displayed on LoopNet's website despite these measures, CoStar
subsequently sought modifications of the preliminary injunction that would expand
its requirements to further prevent infringing displays. At the same time the parties
were briefing the motion to modify the injunction, they were briefing cross-
motions for summary judgment.
On September 28, 2001, the district court issued a consolidated opinion and
order addressing the cross-motions for summary judgment and the motion to
modify the injunction. See CoStar Group, Inc. v. LoopNet, Inc., 164 F. Supp. 2d
688 (D. Md. 2001), reprinted at JA22-43. The court first granted LoopNet
summary judgment on CoStar's claim for direct infringement. The court did not
review the summary judgment record or otherwise analyze the existence vel non of
material factual and legal disputes concerning the underlying claim. Instead the
court dismissed the direct infringement claim at the threshold, relying exclusively
on the rule barring direct infringement claims against "passive" ISPs set forth in
Religious Technology Center v. Netcom On-Line Communications Services, Inc.,
907 F. Supp. 1361 (N.D. Cal. 1995). JA27-28. Under Netcom, the court held, the
only type of copyright infringement claim that may be stated against a "passive"
ISP is a claim for contributory infringement. Id.
Turning then to CoStar's contributory infringement claim, the court started
by analyzing LoopNet's asserted DMCA immunity defense. The court held that
6 LoopNet was not entitled to summary judgment on this defense, because numerous
material factual issues existed as to whether LoopNet had properly disabled access
to certain infringing photographs and whether LoopNet had designed an adequate
prevention policy with respect to certain users. JA33. The court also held that
because LoopNet did not even assert DMCA immunity as to photographs
displayed on its site prior to December 8, 1999, it could not claim DMCA
immunity for any displays prior to that date. JA29 n.4.
Having rejected Loopnet's claim to summary judgment on the DMCA
defense, the court turned to the underlying merits of CoStar's contributory
infringement claim. That claim, unlike direct infringement, required proof that the
defendant knew or should have known that the conduct it was facilitating was
infringing. The court declined to grant either party summary judgment, because
"too many material factual disputes" remained as to the level of LoopNet's
knowledge with respect to each of the hundreds of infringing displays at issue.
JA36.
The court also addressed several other substantive claims and defenses not at
issue here. It rejected LoopNet's arguments that the licenses signed by CoStar's
users allowed the photographs to be displayed on Loopnet's website and that
CoStar had "misused" its copyright. JA26, 36-37. The court dismissed CoStar's
pendent state-law claims as preempted by the Copyright Act, JA40-42, but rejected
7 LoopNet's similar preemption-based motion to dismiss CoStar's Lanham Act
claim, JA40.
The court also denied in part CoStar's motion to modify the preliminary
injunction, but did modify the injunction to enhance the extent to which LoopNet
was required to police the activities of users who LoopNet knew had already
submitted infringing photographs. JA42. CoStar took an immediate appeal from
the denial of its broader request, but voluntarily withdrew that appeal on January
17, 2002.
On June 19, 2003, the parties filed a joint stipulation of dismissal of all
claims except the direct infringement claim, clearing the way for the court to enter
an order of final judgment in the case. The court did so on June 23, 2003, entering
judgment in favor of LoopNet on CoStar's claim for direct infringement, and
dismissing all other claims with prejudice as per the joint stipulation. JA21. On
July 22, 2003, CoStar noticed its appeal with respect to the judgment on direct
infringement.
STATEMENT OF FACTS
services." JA24. CoStar offers commercial real estate professionals and related
businesses access to the most accurate and comprehensive databases of
information on the U.S. and U.K. commercial real estate markets, and the largest
8 known digital image library of commercial properties.2 Fifteen years ago the
commercial real estate market was characterized by dispersed, fragmented and
incomplete information, creating obstacles to efficient transactions. CoStar's
proprietary databases have responded to that problem, collecting, developing and
integrating a wide range of information, including information on leasing, sales,
comparable sales, tenants, and digital photographs. These databases provide
customers with critical information to understand market conditions, identify
opportunities, value properties, and complete transactions efficiently.
CoStar's databases have been and continue to be built as a result of
extraordinary effort and investment by CoStar. Over the past decade CoStar has
invested literally hundreds of millions of dollars to develop not only sophisticated
technology, but also highly qualified human resources, to provide and maintain
database content. CoStar employs over 500 commercial real estate professionals,
who collect and analyze commercial real estate information through millions of
phone calls, emails, Internet updates and faxes each year, in addition to field
inspections, public records review, news monitoring and direct mail. CoStar also
has an extensive field research staff that physically inspects and photographs
properties. JA50-51. This staff includes highly trained professional
photographers. JA50.
2 The following general background on CoStar can be found at www.costar.com.
9
Most of the property listings in CoStar's databases include photographs of
the individual properties. JA2. These photographs are a critical component of the
information CoStar makes available to its subscribers. JA46, 51. CoStar instructs
its photographers which properties to shoot and defines the parameters for each
shoot. JA50. Only those photographs that meet CoStar's quality criteria are used
in the database. JA51. CoStar owns the copyright in the vast majority of
photographs in its databases, and in all the photographs at issue here. JA48.
CoStar makes its databases available to its customers through CD-ROM and
the Internet. JA46. Each of CoStar's customers signs a written agreement that
explicitly prohibits the customer from posting CoStar's photographs on the website
of the customer or of any third party. JA47.
2. LoopNet also provides commercial real estate information, in direct
competition with CoStar, but through a different business model. Whereas CoStar
employs its own researchers and photographers to build its information database,
LoopNet obtains the information it provides on its website from its own users.
And rather than obtain subscriptions for its services, LoopNet (at the time this
lawsuit was filed and for most of the time it was pending below) generated income
primarily by selling advertising on its website in the areas traveled by users
seeking real estate information. Accordingly, LoopNet's business model depended
on the submission of information and photographs by its users to attract other
10 users, who would then view the paid advertising. JA81, 87, 127-28. To that end,
LoopNet actively encouraged its users submit material to its website, including
photographs. JA95 (LoopNet submission form: "For optimal results on the
Internet, include as much information as possible on your listing, particularly
graphics."), JA149, 165.
The information users may submit is strictly controlled. LoopNet users may
only submit information pertaining to commercial real estate, and they may do so
only through a specific electronic form provided by LoopNet. JA25, 95-97. The
form includes fields requiring identification of the property name, type, address,
square footage, age, description, identifying information, and password. JA95-97.
Once that form is submitted the property is added to LoopNet's database and listed
on its website. JA25, 88.
Photographs are handled differently. If a user submits a photograph, it is
diverted into a separate electronic folder elsewhere in LoopNet's system. JA25,
91-92. Each and every photograph submitted is then reviewed by a LoopNet
employee. JA25, 67, 83, 89, 152. The employee examines the photograph for a
number of purposes:
JA89, 152.
83, 157.
11
which LoopNet charges a separate fee. Doc. 94, Exh. F.
blurred or otherwise of poor quality, a LoopNet employee will sometimes edit the photograph to "clean it up" for the user. Id.
Collectively these requirements operate to ensure that only photographs that adhere
to LoopNet's commercial mission are posted on its website. If the photograph
does not satisfy all these requirements, the employee rejects the photograph and it
is not posted to Loopnet's website. JA84. But if the employee deems the
photograph to be satisfactory, the employee "accepts" the photograph and it is
moved to a folder that allows for viewing on the website. JA25, 89, 183, 172.
3. In early 1998, CoStar became aware that its copyrighted photographs
were appearing on LoopNet's website. CoStar informed LoopNet and identified
the photographs, which LoopNet removed. JA70-74. But the pattern continued.
In early summer 1999, CoStar discovered more than 20 copies of CoStar's
photographs from the D.C. market alone displayed on LoopNet's website.
JA55-56. By late summer CoStar had found a total of 112. Id. By the time the
district court entered its opinion dismissing the direct infringement claims, CoStar
had discovered more than 300 of its photographs copied, distributed, and displayed
on LoopNet's website, JA25, and hundreds more were identified during the
pendency of the proceedings below. Each time CoStar discovered additional
infringing photographs, it informed LoopNet, which removed them, but not always
12 immediately, and not always permanently. The district court concluded that
"[t]here are several material factual disputes . . . as to whether the removal of
allegedly infringing photographs was satisfactorily expeditious and whether
LoopNet's termination policy was reasonable and effective." JA33.
SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT
For two distinct reasons, the court's application of the Netcom rule to
dismiss CoStar's direct infringement claims, without further analysis of those
claims under standard copyright principles, was error.
First, this Court has already squarely held that "the policy-based protections
articulated in Netcom," as LoopNet itself describes them, see Doc. 107, at 3, were
"codified" by Congress into specific, statutory affirmative defenses under the
DMCA. See ALS Scan, Inc. v. RemarQ Communities, Inc., 239 F.3d 619, 622-26
(4th Cir. 2001). After the DMCA's "codification of the Netcom principles," this
Court explicitly recognized, Netcom itself no longer imposes its own independent
policy-based immunity on "passive" ISPs. Id. at 622. Rather, an ISP's Netcom-
like special protection resides exclusively in the DMCA safe harbor. Id.
Accordingly, if an ISP does not meet the statutory requirements for that protection,
a court should not "double count" Netcom and thus provide the ISP an independent
measure of special, judge-made immunity.
13
In this case the district court specifically held and it is undisputed that
Loopnet does not qualify for DMCA immunity for a large subset of CoStar's direct
infringement claims. JA29 n.4. The district court further held that material
factual issues exist as to LoopNet's entitlement to DMCA immunity with respect
to all remaining claims. JA33. The court therefore erred in granting summary
judgment to LoopNet on the basis of any immunity from direct infringement
claims. Because LoopNet has no valid defense to liability absent DMCA
immunity, judgment should have been entered for CoStar on the direct
infringement claims for which LoopNet indisputably does not qualify for such
immunity, and further factfinding should have been undertaken with respect to the
remaining direct infringement claims.
Second, even if it were appropriate to apply Netcom immunity to an ISP that
failed to qualify for DMCA immunity, it would be improper to apply Netcom to
LoopNet. LoopNet is not a "passive," "automatic" purveyor of electronic
information of the kind involved and contemplated in Netcom. Rather, LoopNet
strictly controls the content of all information submitted to its website nothing
other than real estate information is allowed, and that information is provided only
on a specific form provided by LoopNet. Most important, a LoopNet employee
reviews and approves every single photograph for consistency with LoopNet's
commercial theme before the employee moves it into a folder for viewing on
14 LoopNet's website. Adhering to traditional principles of copyright liability under
those circumstances would in no way threaten the very existence of the Internet
the policy concern underlying Netcom because LoopNet differs so dramatically
from those bulletin board services ("BBSs") and ISPs whose main function is
simply to facilitate access and to handle data transfer in a truly neutral, automatic
fashion. This case is indistinguishable from Playboy Enterprises, Inc. v. Russ
Hardenburgh, Inc., 982 F. Supp. 503 (N.D. Ohio 1997), a pre-DMCA case in
which the court denied an ISP Netcom immunity where, as here, the ISP (1)
encouraged the posting of material, and (2) screened all postings before moving
them to a file for viewing. Id. at 513. Because Netcom thus does not apply here
even by it own terms, it provides no basis for the district court's summary
dismissal of the direct infringement claim.
ARGUMENT
The district court in this case granted LoopNet summary judgment on
CoStar's claim of direct infringement for one reason, and one reason only: the
district court chose to follow the rule enunciated by the trial court in Netcom that
an ISP that provides only "passive" or "automatic" Internet services is
categorically immune from direct copyright infringement claims based on material
posted or displayed by the ISP's users. Holding that Netcom's special new
protective rule for "passive" ISP defendants categorically barred CoStar's direct
15 infringement claim, the court dismissed the claim without further analysis of
LoopNet's liability for direct infringement under traditional copyright infringement
principles. For the two reasons elaborated below, this ruling was erroneous, and
should be reversed. Because this is an appeal from a grant of summary judgment
in LoopNet's favor, this Court reviews the district court's order de novo, granting
CoStar the benefit of all reasonable inferences from the factual record. See
Continental Airlines, Inc. v. United Airlines, Inc., 277 F.3d 499, 508 (4th Cir.
2002).
I. SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON DIRECT INFRINGEMENT SHOULD
BE REVERSED BECAUSE LOOPNET DOES NOT QUALIFY FOR
THE DMCA'S NETCOM SAFE HARBOR AND THERE IS NO BASIS
IN LAW FOR IMPOSING AN INDEPENDENT, CATEGORICAL
BAR TO DIRECT INFRINGEMENT CLAIMS AGAINST "PASSIVE"
ISPs
A. Netcom Was A Policy-Based, Special Rule Of Protection From
Copyright Liability For ISPs
1. "Reduced to most fundamental terms, there are only two elements
necessary to the plaintiff's case in an infringement action: ownership of the
copyright by the plaintiff and copying [or public distribution or public display] by
the defendant." Melville B. Nimmer & David Nimmer, Nimmer on Copyright
§ 13.01, at 13-5 (2003); see Keeler Brass Co. v. Continental Brass Co., 862 F.2d
1063, 1065 (4th Cir. 1988). Under traditional copyright principles, direct
infringement is a "strict liability" claim: if the defendant displays the plaintiff's
16 copyrighted photograph, the defendant is liable (absent a statutory affirmative
defense such as "fair use"), regardless whether the defendant knew or should have
known that the photograph was copyrighted. See Fitzgerald Pub. Co. v. Baylor
Pub. Co., 807 F.2d 1110, 1113 (2d Cir. 1986); Nimmer on Copyright § 13.08, at
13-284.3 The Nimmer treatise explains why even "innocent" infringers are held
liable under traditional copyright rules:
Copyright would lose much of its value if third parties, such as
publishers and producers, were insulated from liability because of
their innocence as to the culpability of the persons who supplied them
with the infringing material. Furthermore, as between two innocent
parties (i.e., the copyright owner and the innocent infringer) it is the
latter who should suffer because he, unlike the copyright owner, either
has an opportunity to guard against the infringement by diligent
inquiry, or at least the ability to guard against liability for
infringement by an indemnity agreement from his supplier or by an
"errors and omissions" insurance policy.
Nimmer on Copyright, § 13.08, at 13-286.4
2. The traditional copyright infringement principles first encountered the
Internet in Playboy Enterprises, Inc. v. Frena, 839 F. Supp. 1552 (M.D. Fla. 1993).
3 The state of a party's knowledge of the infringing activity may, however, affect the remedies available. See Fitzgerald, 807 F.2d at 1113.
4 Judge Keeton puts the same point in terms of economic principles of risk allocation:
The enterprise and the person profiting from it are better able than either the
innocent injured plaintiff or the person whose act caused the loss to distribute the
costs and to shift them to others who have profited from the enterprise. In
addition, placing responsibility for the loss on the enterprise has the added benefit
of creating a greater incentive for the enterprise to police its operations carefully
to avoid unnecessary losses.
Polygram Int'l Publ'g, Inc. v. Nevada/TIG, Inc., 855 F. Supp. 1314, 1325 (D. Mass. 1994).
17 The defendant in Frena operated a subscription "bulletin board service" ("BBS"),
to which users could log on, for a fee, and download copies of photographs
uploaded by other users. Id. at 1554. The plaintiff alleged that it owned the
copyright to some of the photographs uploaded onto the BBS. Id. The defendant
averred that such photographs were uploaded only by subscribers and that as soon
as he became aware that plaintiff's copyrighted photographs were available on his
BBS, he removed them and continued to monitor the BBS to prevent additional
uploads. Id.
Under traditional infringement principles, Frena was an easy case: the
plaintiff's copyrighted photographs were displayed on the defendant's website.
Although the defendant contended that he was unaware of what his subscribers
were uploading, the court held this to be legally irrelevant: "It does not matter that
Defendant Frena may have been unaware of the copyright infringement. Intent to
infringe is not needed to find copyright infringement. Intent or knowledge is not
an element of infringement, and thus even an innocent infringer is liable for
infringement[.]" Id. at 1559.
3. While Frena was thus a straightforward case under traditional
infringement rules, a problem soon became apparent: if traditional infringement
rules continued to be applied mechanically in the Internet context, they might
quickly engulf the Internet with infringement liability. If those responsible for
18 copying, distribution and display of material on the Internet were held strictly
liable for every infringing "bit" of information they handle, as traditional principles
often would dictate, the very existence of the Internet could have been at risk.
The first judicial opinion to recognize and respond to this perceived problem
was Religious Technology Center v. Netcom On-Line Communications Services,
Inc., 907 F. Supp. 1361 (N.D. Cal. 1995). Netcom involved on-line postings about
Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard by former church minister Dennis
Erlich. Erlich posted his messages on a "Usenet newsgroup," which he accessed
through a BBS operated by Thomas Klemesrud, who in turn linked his BBS to the
Internet through Internet service provider Netcom. Contending that Erlich's
postings included significant excerpts of copyrighted material, plaintiffs sued not
only Erlich, but also Klemesrud and Netcom.
Plaintiffs contended that Netcom and Klemesrud were strictly liable for
direct infringement, per Frena, because their systems copied Erlich's messages and
allowed them to be distributed. The court rejected that claim, but was forced into
the "realm of the philosophical," Nimmer on Copyright § 12B.01[A][1], at 12B-9,
to explain why the potentially devastating risk of liability for Internet service
providers rendered plaintiffs' claim simply unacceptable as a matter of policy:
Plaintiffs' theory would create many separate acts of infringement
and, carried to its natural extreme, would lead to unreasonable
liability. . . . It would also result in liability for every single Usenet
server in the worldwide link of computers transmitting Erlich's
19
message to every other computer. These parties, who are liable under
plaintiffs' theory, do no more than operate or implement a system that
is essential if Usenet messages are to be widely distributed. [907 F.
Supp. at 1369-70.]
* * * *
The court does not find workable a theory of infringement that would
hold the entire Internet liable for activities that cannot reasonably be
deterred. Billions of bits of data flow through the network and are
necessarily stored on servers throughout the network and it is
practically impossible to screen out infringing bits from noninfringing
bits. Because the court cannot see any meaningful distinction
(without regard to knowledge) between what Netcom did and what
every other Usenet server does, the court finds that Netcom cannot be
held liable for direct infringement. [907 F. Supp. at 1372-73.]
For these reasons, the court adopted a special liability-limiting rule for Internet
servers: "Although copyright is a strict liability statute, there should still be some
element of volition or causation which is lacking when a defendant's system is
merely used to create a copy by a third party." Id. at 1370. Absent such volition,
the court held, an ISP can be sued only for contributory infringement, which
requires a plaintiff to prove that the ISP knew or should have known that the
postings were infringing. Id. at 1369-70. As this Court has recognized, this
conclusion effectively erects a categorical bar to traditional, strict liability direct
infringement claims against passive ISPs: "[Netcom] concluded that when an
Internet provider serves, without human intervention, as a passive conduit for
copyrighted material, it is not liable as a direct infringer." ALS Scan, Inc. v.
RemarQ Communities, Inc., 239 F.3d 619, 622 (4th Cir. 2001).
20
Netcom's rule of categorical immunity was not a creature of traditional
copyright law. To the contrary, as LoopNet itself has correctly observed, it
reflected "a dramatic shift in copyright law" as applied to ISP defendants,
necessitated by the potentially limitless copyright liability they might face without
special protections. Doc. 87, at 17 (emphasis added). Rather than applying
traditional copyright laws to ISPs as Frena had, the Netcom court "recognized the
inherent problems with traditional copyright laws in an Internet context," and
therefore "re-evaluated" those laws, id. at 2 (emphasis added), to provide special
"policy-based protections" for passive ISP defendants, Doc. 107, at 3; see Nimmer
on Copyright § 12B.01[A][1], at 12B-9 ("At bottom . . . [Netcom] reflects a policy
judgment as to where the line of liability should be drawn.").
B. Netcom's Special, Policy-Based Protections Were "Codified" In
The DMCA
The Netcom court may or may not have fairly appraised the policy
consequences that might result from a straightforward application of traditional
copyright infringement in the Internet context. But such policy considerations are
typically the province of the legislative branch, not the judiciary. What is more,
Netcom was only one district court opinion, and while a few other courts purported
to follow its principles, see, e.g., Marobie-FL, Inc. v. National Ass'n of Fire Equip.
Distribs., 983 F. Supp. 1167, 1179 (N.D. Ill. 1997); Sega Enterprises, Ltd. v.
MAPHIA, 948 F. Supp. 923, 932 (N.D. Cal. 1996), other opinions leaned more
21
toward the traditional rules reflected in Frena, see, e.g., Sega Enterprises, Ltd. v.
MAPHIA, 857 F. Supp. 679, 686 (N.D. Cal. 1994). Rather than leave the law
unsettled, exposing copyright owners and ISPs alike to the risks of uneven
applications of copyright law to the Internet, Congress resolved the controversy in
Title II of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 512. See H.R. Rep.
No. 105-551(II), at 49 (1998) ("The liability of on-line service providers and
Internet access providers for copyright infringements that take place in the online
environment has been a controversial issue. Title II of the Digital Millenium
Copyright Act addresses this complex issue."); S. Rep. No. 105-190, at 40 (1998).
Congress did not see the problem of copyright infringement only as a
problem for ISPs, and it did not enact the DMCA solely to provide ISPs special
protections. Rather, Congress understood that the Internet posed novel problems
for copyright owners and ISPs alike. On the one hand, the Internet exposed
copyright owners to unprecedented risks of endless and instant copying and display
of their works, literally worldwide. See S. Rep. No. 105-190, at 8 ("Due to the
ease with which digital works can be copied and distributed worldwide virtually
instantaneously, copyright owners will hesitate to make their works readily
available on the Internet without reasonable assurance that they will be protected
against massive piracy."). On the other hand, the Internet posed equally
unprecedented risks of liability for traditional copyright infringement on ISPs that
22
handle billions of bits of data, some of which could be infringing. See id. ("At the
same time, without clarification of their liability, service providers may hesitate to
make the necessary investment in the expansion of the speed and capacity of the
Internet. In the ordinary course of their operations service providers must engage
in all kinds of acts that expose them to potential copyright infringement liability.").
The DMCA was written to respond to both concerns: "Title II [of the DMCA]
preserves strong incentives for service providers and copyright owners to
cooperate to detect and deal with copyright infringements that take place in the
digital networked environment. At the same time, it provides greater certainty to
service providers concerning their legal exposure for infringements that may occur
in the course of their activities." Id. at 40; H.R. Rep. No. 105-511(II), at 49-50. In
this Court's words, the DMCA "w as enacted both to preserve copyright
enforcement on the Internet and to provide immunity to service providers from
copyright infringement liability for `passive,' `automatic' actions in which a
service provider's system engages through a technological process initiated by
another without the knowledge of the service provider." ALS Scan, 239 F.3d at
625 (emphasis added); see Paul Goldstein, Copyright Law § 6.3, at 6:24 (2d ed.
Supp. 2000) (DMCA "carves out several safe harbors that aim to balance the need
of copyright owners to obtain effective relief against the need of service providers
23
to pursue their largely noninfringing activities unencumbered by costly monitoring
burdens").
Consistent with its efforts to balance the competing concerns of copyright
owners and ISPs, Congress determined that the immunity proposed by the Netcom
court should not be absolute. ALS Scan, 239 F.3d at 625. Copyright policy in the
Internet era would be best served, Congress concluded, if the immunity envisioned
in Netcom were available not as a categorical bar to direct infringement claims, but
rather as specific "limitations of liability for copyright infringement to which
Internet service providers might otherwise be exposed." Id. at 623. Accordingly,
Netcom-type immunity under the DMCA is
granted only to `innocent' service providers who can prove they do
not have actual or constructive knowledge of the infringement, as
defined under any of the three prongs of 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(1). The
DMCA's protection of an innocent service provider disappears at the
moment the service provider loses its innocence, i.e., at the moment it
becomes aware that a third party is using its system to infringe. At
that point, the Act shifts responsibility to the service provider to
disable the infringing matter, "preserving the strong incentives for
service providers and copyright owners to cooperate to detect and deal
with copyright infringements that take place in the digital networked
environment."
Id. at 625 (quoting H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 105-796, at 72 (1998)). It is thus the
DMCA safe harbor and only the safe harbor that reflects "Congress'
codification of the Netcom principles." ALS Scan, 239 F.3d at 622.
24
In contrast to Netcom, the policy balance struck in the DMCA does not
altogether prohibit plaintiffs from bringing direct infringement claims against
"passive" ISPs. To the contrary, the DMCA presupposes the continued existence
of such claims, and responds by codifying the Netcom rule as an affirmative
defense to such claims. But the affirmative defense is not automatically available
to an ISP, even if it is "passive" in Netcom's sense of the word. Rather, any ISP
may seek immunity within the DMCA safe harbors even a non-"passive" ISP
but it must satisfy certain conditions to qualify. Under DMCA § 512(c), an ISP
that might otherwise be liable for direct infringement can assert immunity from
such a claim "as long as the service provider can show that: (1) it has neither
actual knowledge that its system contains infringing materials nor an awareness of
facts or circumstances from which an infringement is apparent . . . (2) it receives
no financial benefit directly attributable to infringing activity; and (3) it responded
expeditiously to remove or disable access to material claimed to be infringing after
receiving from the copyright holder a notification conforming with [the]
requirements of § 512(c)(3)." Id. at 623.5
5 In addition, an ISP must formally designate an agent to receive notification of alleged infringements. 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(2). An ISP also must have implemented a policy for the identification and termination of users who repeatedly submit infringing material. Id. § 512(i)(1)(A). The complete text of § 512, the pertinent section of the DMCA, is reprinted in the Addendum to this brief.
25
The DMCA safe harbor codifies the immunity proposed by the Netcom
court, but applies it to all ISPs not just "passive" ISPs and reverses the burden
of proof. Under Netcom, an ISP loses immunity if the plaintiff proves the ISP had
knowledge of the infringement (as required by the contributory infringement rubric
under which Netcom compels plaintiffs to proceed). So, too, under the DMCA,
except the ISP must prove that it did not have knowledge.6 But if it cannot meet
6 DMCA immunity also codifies Netcom with respect to the DMCA's "financial benefit" condition. That is, an ISP loses immunity if it fails to prove that it did not obtain a financial benefit directly attributable to the particular activity that is infringing. Netcom held the converse: an ISP would be immune unless the plaintiff proved that the ISP obtained a benefit directly tied to the infringing activity itself. 907 F. Supp. at 1377, 1382. According to the legislative history, Congress intended for courts to apply "financial benefit" in accordance with cases "such as Marobie-FL," H.R. Rep. No. 105-551(I), at 25 (1998) (emphasis added), which in turn simply followed the Netcom court's strict definition of "financial benefit," see Marobie-FL, 983 F. Supp. at 1179.
The DMCA "financial benefit" condition does not, however, codify the "financial benefit" element of traditional vicarious liability. The financial benefit condition of the DMCA and Netcom is much narrower than the traditional "financial benefit" needed to prove vicarious liability. To establish the latter, a plaintiff need only show a general benefit from the infringing activity, i.e., that the activity was part of an overall "draw" for other customers. See Goldstein, Copyright Law § 6.2.2.1, at 6:22 ("financial benefit will be found where the availability of infringing material in an area under the defendant's control, such as a flea market or Internet site, enhances the present or future value of the defendant's overall operations"); see, e.g., A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, 239 F.3d 1004, 1023 (9th Cir. 2001); Fonovisa, Inc. v. Cherry Auction, Inc., 76 F.3d 259, 264 (9th Cir. 1996); Polygram Int'l Publ'g, Inc. v. Nevada/TIG, Inc., 855 F. Supp. 1314, 1331 (D. Mass. 1994). To establish the financial benefit necessary to strip an ISP of immunity under the DMCA or Netcom, by contrast, the financial benefit must be specifically tied to the infringing activity itself, i.e., the defendant gets paid more for infringing activity than noninfringing activity. See Nimmer on Copyright § 12B.04[A][3], at 12B-49 ("to the extent that a service provider charges a fee whose value is plainly tied to providing direct access to infringing material, the exemption is lost"); H.R. Rep. No. 105-551(II), at 54 (condition does not apply where "where the infringer makes the same kind of payments as non-infringing users of the provider's service"); S. Rep. No. 105-190, at 44-45. The strict construction of what constitutes a "directly attributable" financial benefit under the DMCA safe harbor "stands in contrast to the gloss on `direct financial benefit'" applied in evaluating a defendant's underlying vicarious liability in traditional infringement contexts. Nimmer on Copyright § 12B.04[A][2], at 12B-48, n.28; see id. § 12.04[A][1], at 12-77 & n.27.20 (whereas financial benefit element of vicarious
26
that burden or if it otherwise fails to prove its qualification for the safe harbor
then the policy conclusion reflected in the DMCA is that the ISP is not an
"innocent" ISP deserving of special protection from direct infringement liability.
See ALS Scan, 239 F.3d at 625; see also supra note 6 and infra note 7.
Accordingly, the plaintiff may proceed with its direct infringement claim against
the ISP.
ALS Scan exemplifies the proper treatment of Netcom-type defenses to direct
infringement claims after the DMCA. ALS Scan involved facts similar to both
Netcom and Frena. Plaintiff ALS Scan marketed copyrighted "adult" photographs
and other material through a website, CD-ROMs and videotapes. Defendant
liability can be established by existence by "possible, indirect benefit," "no such leeway would seem possible" under "financial benefit" condition of DMCA safe harbor).
Because the district court below erroneously believed that the financial benefit element of DMCA/Netcom is identical to the traditional financial benefit element for vicarious liability, the court mistakenly suggested that the DMCA provides no immunity for vicarious liability. JA34. Once financial benefit is proved for purposes of establishing vicarious liability, the argument goes, the ISP automatically loses DMCA immunity because it has received the kind of financial benefit that bars it from asserting such immunity. Id. But in fact, by distinguishing the kind of financial benefit required to establish liability from the kind of financial benefit required to lose immunity, the DMCA both preserves a copyright owner's right to bring a vicarious liability claim and provides a meaningful defense to such a claim for qualified ISPs. See H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 105-796, at 73 (DMCA provides immunity from vicarious liability); S. Rep. No. 105-190, at 20 (same); H.R. Rep. No. 105-551(II), at 53 (same). The plaintiff need prove only a general financial benefit to support its prima facie case of vicarious liability, but the ISP will be entitled to immunity if it can show, inter alia, that its particular financial benefit is not of the strictly direct kind contemplated in the DMCA and Netcom. If the ISP cannot make that showing, the implicit policy conclusion reflected in the DMCA is that the ISP is not entitled to special protection from vicarious liability, because an ISP that profits so specifically from infringing activity both (a) has a strong incentive to allow infringements, which the law should not protect, and (b) is almost certainly in a good position to monitor and police such activity if the law threatens liability. See infra note 7.
27
RemarQ operated a general service ISP that provided its subscribers access to the
Internet, including access to some 30,000 different newsgroups. Id. at 620. ALS
Scan discovered that several of the newsgroups included many of ALS Scan's
copyrighted photographs. ALS Scan notified RemarQ that its website contained
the infringing photographs, but RemarQ declined to disable access to them. ALS
Scan sued, asserting that RemarQ was liable for both direct infringement and for
contributory infringement.
The district court entered summary judgment against plaintiff ALS Scan on
its direct infringement claim, relying on the Netcom rule. Id. at 622. On appeal,
ALS Scan urged the court instead to follow the traditional rule applied in Frena,
viz., that an ISP is strictly liable when it "fail[s] to prevent the placement of
plaintiff's copyrighted photographs in its system, despite any proof that the
provider had any knowledge of the infringing activities." Id. This Court held that
although the Netcom analysis makes more sense as a matter of policy, it was the
DMCA's codification of that policy analysis not Netcom itself that must
control: "Although we find the Netcom court reasoning more persuasive, the
ultimate conclusion on this point is controlled by Congress' codification of the
Netcom principles in Title II of the DMCA." Id. "Accordingly," the Court
concluded, "we address only ALS Scan's claims brought under the DMCA itself."
Id. The Court then held that RemarQ could not claim the safety of the DMCA's
28
safe harbor because ALS Scan's notification was adequate under the DMCA. Id.
at 625-26. The Court therefore reversed summary judgment on the direct
infringement claim, and remanded for further proceedings on that claim. Id.
ALS Scan thus squarely holds that Netcom does not preclude direct
infringement claims against passive, automatic ISPs, such as RemarQ, that do not
qualify for the DMCA safe harbor. To be sure, the Court also observed in a
footnote that ALS Scan's claims "would appear" to "amount more to a claim of
contributory infringement . . . than to a claim of direct infringement," id. at 621
n.1, because ALS Scan alleged that RemarQ had knowledge of the infringement
once it was put on notice by ALS Scan. But this footnote did not even suggest,
much less hold, that all other plaintiffs suing ISPs would be required to allege the
knowledge inherent to contributory infringement. To the contrary, as noted, the
Court even allowed ALS Scan's own claims of direct infringement to go forward.
ALS Scan recognizes that Congress resolved the Frena/Netcom dichotomy in
the DMCA by writing Netcom's protective principles specifically into the text of
the safe harbor. Under this structure, it simply makes no sense to say that once an
ISP loses the protection of the Netcom statutory immunity, it should still benefit
from an even more sweeping version of that immunity in the form of an
independent, judge-made categorical bar to direct infringement claims. Nothing in
the statute or legislative history suggests that Congress intended to provide "double
29
protection" for ISPs, requiring courts to apply Netcom's principles twice once
through the safe harbor, and then again as independent limitation on a plaintiff's
underlying case. Again, just the opposite is true: as noted above, the legislative
history repeatedly reports Congress's intention to balance the need to "preserve[]
strong incentives" to police potential copyright infringements with the need to
provide "certainty to [ISPs] concerning their legal exposure for infringements." S.
Rep. No. 105-190, at 20, 40; H.R. Rep. No. 105-551[II], at 49-50. Preserving
traditional liability rules while providing ISPs a Netcom-type defense when they
would otherwise be liable under those rules balances the need for certainty with the
preservation of strong incentives for lawful behavior; giving an ISP that fails to
qualify for DMCA immunity a second dose of immunization under Netcom tips
that balance in one direction, contrary to Congress's clearly expressed intention.
C. The District Court Erred In Applying Netcom As A Categorical
Immunity From Direct Infringement Claims Independent Of The
DMCA Netcom-Type Safe Harbor Immunity
The district court in this case, while quoting at length from ALS Scan,
actually reached a conclusion directly opposite the one reached in ALS Scan. The
district court held that the categorical immunity adopted in Netcom should still
apply, even after the DMCA codified that immunity in a more limited form into the
text of the DMCA safe harbor. Thus, the district court held, CoStar is categorically
barred from pursuing a direct infringement claim against LoopNet which the
30 court deemed to be a "passive" ISP under Netcom even though LoopNet does not
qualify for the safe harbor as to many of the photographs at issue here.
The district court cited nothing in support of that conclusion except ALS
Scan, but the court simply got that case backwards. The court started by correctly
reading ALS Scan as having "resolved the dichotomy" between Netcom and Frena,
by recognizing that "Congress had decided the issue, adopting the Netcom
approach, which [this Court] found more persuasive in any event." JA28. Then
the court stated: "As observed by the Fourth Circuit, the Netcom approach is more
persuasive, even if not mandated by the DMCA." Id. (emphasis added). And with
no further analysis, the court leapt to the conclusion that "this case does not present
a valid claim of copyright infringement. . . . Rather, contributory infringement is
the proper rubric under which to analyze this case." Id.
The district court's error is obvious: this Court in ALS Scan did not find
Netcom "more persuasive" and therefore applicable of its own force independent
of the DMCA. To the contrary, what the Court held is that although Netcom is
"more persuasive" than Frena, the entire debate is now beside the point, as
Congress had decided the issue by codifying the Netcom principles in the terms of
the DMCA safe harbor itself. Nothing in ALS Scan or the text or history of the
DMCA suggests that Congress intended to "codify" Netcom as a super-immunity,
over and above what Congress explicitly provided in the statutory safe harbor. In
31 fact, as noted above, after this Court in ALS Scan determined that DMCA
immunity was unavailable in that case, it allowed the direct infringement claims to
go forward it did not order their dismissal on the basis of Netcom. 239 F.3d at
625-26.
Professor David Nimmer nevertheless contends that the text and history of
the DMCA does endorse a super-immunity, distinct from what the safe harbor
explicitly provides. He argues that even if an ISP fails to qualify for a safe harbor,
its conduct "must stand or fall on its own merits, based on how antecedent law
would treat it; Netcom remains a valuable touchstone in that regard." Nimmer on
Copyright § 12B.06[B], at 12B-76. Professor Nimmer is half right: it is true that
failure to qualify for a safe harbor does not render an ISP "ipso facto" liable for
infringement, as he puts it, id.; a plaintiff must still prove a case of infringement
under "antecedent" infringement principles. But it is not true that if an ISP fails to
qualify for the DMCA safe harbor, the plaintiff's claim still can be categorically
barred by Netcom's special judge-made protections for ISPs. Those protections
exist solely within the terms of the safe harbor.
Professor Nimmer stakes his claim for the continued, independent vitality of
Netcom's special rules on two grounds: (1) Congress's expressed intention to
"codify" Netcom, see id. § 12B.06[B], at 12B-76 n.16; id. § 12B.05[C]; and (2) the
DMCA's statutory assurance that
32
[t]he failure of a service provider's conduct to qualify for limitation of
liability under this section shall not bear adversely upon the
consideration of a defense by the service provider that the service
provider's conduct is not infringing under this title or any other
defense.
17 U.S.C. § 512(l). Neither ground supports his position, or that of the district
court in this case.
First, and most clearly, the fact that Congress "codified" Netcom in the
DMCA does not support the inference that Netcom remains a viable touchstone
independent of the DMCA. The exact opposite is true. Congress "codifies" a
principle or rule by writing it into the statutory code. See Black's Law Dictionary
252 (7th ed. 1999) ("codification: 1. The process of compiling, arranging and
systematizing the laws . . . into an ordered code"); Webster's Third New Int'l
Dictionary 438 (3d ed. rev. 1993) ("codify . . .: 1. to reduce to a code (as laws)").
That is what Congress did here it wrote the Netcom principles into the statute, in
the form of the safe harbor. Congress does not "codify" the principles of a judicial
opinion by leaving them outside the code, subject to the vagaries of continued
judicial development, restriction, and possible evisceration. If Congress "codified"
the Netcom principles in the DMCA, as all agree it did, then it can only be to the
DMCA that we look for enforcement of those principles. And if an ISP falls
outside the DMCA's Netcom protections as LoopNet does then the ISP
33 necessarily falls outside the scope of the special protection Congress thought it
necessary and appropriate to provide.
Second, it follows from all we have shown that § 512(l) cannot and does not
require a court to give an ISP "double" Netcom immunity. On its face, § 512(l) is
simply a response to the straw-man argument that concerned Professor Nimmer,
namely, that "some plaintiff" would argue that the mere failure to qualify for the
safe harbor means that the ISP's conduct is "ipso facto" barred by copyright law.
Such an argument would be wrong, and § 512(l) removes any doubt on that score.
For instance, if an ISP declines to remove material posted on its website upon
notification by a plaintiff, or if it receives a financial benefit specifically tied to the
allegedly infringing activity, it cannot claim immunity under the safe harbor. But
the mere refusal to remove posted material, or the mere fact of the financial
benefit, do not, in and themselves, establish that the posted material was, in fact,
infringing. That remains a matter for the plaintiff to prove, under antecedent law
governing all acts of alleged infringements (not just those of ISPs), as § 512(l)
simply makes clear.
This system makes perfect sense in terms of the policy balance struck by the
DMCA. An ISP can establish its immunity by showing that it is an "innocent" ISP
i.e., that it does not know of or profit directly from allegedly infringing acts. ALS
Scan, 239 F.3d at 625. Once it is put on proper notice of alleged infringement by a
34 copyright owner, however, the ISP has a clear opportunity to investigate whether
its system is being misused, and to take action if warranted. If the ISP declines to
act under those circumstances, there is no Netcom-type policy reason why it should
get extra protection from copyright liability under traditional rules.7 If such an ISP
takes itself outside the DMCA safe harbor by declining to act, then it should be
subject to the same risk of copyright liability as any other defendant, under the
same traditional copyright rules that would apply to any other defendant.
D. Absent Netcom Immunity, LoopNet Was Not Entitled To
Summary Judgment On Its Direct Infringement Claims
The district court summarily dismissed CoStar's direct infringement claim
without any analysis other than an erroneous reading of ALS Scan, which led to an
improper application of a categorical Netcom immunity. Thus the court did not
even reach the DMCA safe harbor before dismissing the direct infringement claim.
The court nevertheless did analyze LoopNet's status under the safe harbor, because
LoopNet asserted it as a defense to CoStar's separate claim of contributory
infringement the one claim the court said could proceed under Netcom.
The district court held that LoopNet was not entitled to summary judgment
on its claim of immunity under the safe harbor. Specifically, LoopNet failed to
7 The same is true for an ISP that loses its immunity because it receives a financial benefit that is specifically tied to infringing activity. Under those circumstances, the ISP will certainly have reason, and likely the ability, to monitor and control the conduct, and thus deserves no special immunity from application of traditional copyright rules. See supra note 6.
35 prove its qualification for the safe harbor in two respects. First, LoopNet had not
designated the DMCA-required agent to receive notifications of claimed
infringements until December 8, 1999 after CoStar filed this action. JA29 n.4.
"Therefore," the court held, "the safe harbor is only available to LoopNet with
regard to its liability (if any) arising after that date." Id. Second, the court
concluded that "several material factual disputes remain[ed]" as to whether
LoopNet had satisfied the safe harbor requirements that an ISP "expeditiously"
remove or block access to claimed infringing material upon proper notification by
a copyright owner, and that an ISP adopt a policy for dealing with repeat
infringers. JA33. In short, the court concluded that LoopNet had failed to prove
its entitlement to the safe harbor for the set of claims relating to photographs (a)
displayed prior to December 8, 1999, and (b) that LoopNet did not expeditiously
take down or have a policy for handling.
As to the pre-December 8, 1999 direct infringement claims, the district court
should have entered summary judgment in CoStar's favor. LoopNet concedes that
it was not entitled to DMCA immunity for those claims, and we have shown why
Netcom immunity can no longer prevail. Absent such immunities, CoStar's case
for direct infringement on the undisputed record facts is irrefutable. CoStar owns
the photographs, and LoopNet copied, distributed and displayed them on its
website. Nothing more is needed to prove a traditional direct infringement claim.
36 See supra at 16-17 (describing two elements of direct infringement: ownership
and copying/distribution/display). "With respect to the allowance of uploading
material by their subscribers, [ISPs] act essentially as an electronic publisher,"
Information Infrastructure Task Force, Intellectual Property and the National
Information Infrastructure: Report of the Working Group on Intellectual Property
Rights 122 (1995), and therefore are, under traditional copyright principles, strictly
liable for infringing conduct just like any other publisher even an unwitting
publisher of infringing material, see id. at 116 (observing that "photo finishers
. . . book sellers, record stores, newsstands and computer software retailers . . . may
be held strictly liable as distributors if the works or copies they deal in are
infringing"); see, e.g., Playboy Enterprises, Inc. v. Frena, 839 F. Supp. 1552 (M.D.
Fla. 1993) (computer BBS strictly liable for infringing postings of users); Playboy
Enterprises, Inc. v. Russ Hardenburgh, Inc., 982 F. Supp. 503 (N.D. Ohio 1997)
(computer BBS strictly liable for infringing postings of users); see generally Jane
C. Ginsburg, Putting Cars On the "Information Superhighway": Authors,
Exploiters, and Copyright In Cyberspace, 95 Colum. L. Rev. 1466, 1494 (1995)
(discussing application of traditional, pre-Netcom copyright principles to ISPs:
"As a result of the technology of communication on digital networks (at least for
now), the online service [provider] is itself engaging in acts of copyright
exploitation. When a user posts a work on the bulletin board, a `copy' of the work
37 is made in the service's server. When the work is communicated to subscribers, it
is `publicly performed or displayed' on their screens."); Paul Goldstein, Copyright,
Patent, Trademark and Related State Doctrines 732 (2002) (suggesting
comparison of ISPs to "book or record store owners who are subject to strict
liability for public distribution of infringing copies or phonorecords" and to "photo
finishers who process millions of copyrighted photographs each day and are also
strictly liable").
As to the post-December 8, 1999 claims, LoopNet is entitled at least to
assert DMCA immunity. But as the district court held, continued factfinding is
necessary to establish whether LoopNet properly disabled access to certain
photographs, and whether LoopNet had an adequate policy for terminating repeat
infringers. If LoopNet can make those showings, LoopNet is entitled to summary
judgment; if not, CoStar is entitled to summary judgment.
In short, this Court should reverse the district court's summary judgment
order, remand the pre-December 8, 1999 claims with instructions to enter judgment
for CoStar, and remand the remainder for further factfinding as to LoopNet's
satisfaction of the DMCA's requirements. Alternatively, the Court could simply
correct the fundamental error of law underlying the summary judgment order and
remand all the direct infringement claims for further analysis under the proper
copyright standards, without the special policy influences of Netcom now cabined
38 within the DMCA's statutory immunity. Given that not even the district court has
ever addressed the basic summary judgment question in respect to direct
infringement, this Court may wish to vacate and remand the case for the district
court to do so in the first instance. What matters most for purposes of this appeal
is that this Court correct the district court's misunderstanding of the role of Netcom
immunity in post-DMCA copyright law.
II. LOOPNET DOES NOT QUALIFY FOR NETCOM IMMUNITY EVEN
UNDER NETCOM'S OWN TERMS BECAUSE LOOPNET IS NOT A
"PASSIVE" ISP
Even assuming that, contrary to ALS Scan, the district court correctly
perceived that Netcom immunity could apply to an ISP that does not qualify for
DMCA immunity, the district court was nevertheless wrong to conclude that
Netcom immunity does apply to LoopNet.
Netcom immunity applies only to "passive" ISPs, through which data flow is
"automatic." This Court itself described the Netcom rule as: "[W]hen an Internet
provider serves, without human intervention, as a passive conduit for copyrighted
material, it is not liable as a direct infringer." ALS Scan, 239 F.3d at 622
(emphasis added). The Netcom rule was devised to protect from copyright liability
computer systems that blindly transmit data bits with no realistic way for the
system operator to monitor their content. The Netcom court's concern, its opinion
39 makes clear, was with imposing liability only for those for activities that are
essential for the basic functioning of the entire Internet:
[P]laintiffs' theory further implicates a Usenet server that carries
Erlich's message to other servers regardless of whether that server
acts without any human intervention beyond the initial setting up of
the system. It would also result in liability for every single Usenet
server in the worldwide link of computers transmitting Erlich's
message to every other computer. These parties, who are liable under
plaintiffs' theory, do no more than operate or implement a system that
is essential if Usenet messages are to be widely distributed. There is
no need to construe the Act to make all of these parties infringers.
Although copyright is a strict liability statute, there should still be
some element of volition or causation which is lacking where a
defendant's system is merely used to create a copy by a third party.
907 F. Supp. at 1369-70 (emphasis added). Thus by its own terms the Netcom rule
was not intended to protect ISPs that do anything "more than" what is minimally
necessary to facilitate the functioning of the Internet. The Netcom court makes the
point repeatedly. See also id. at 1368 ( "Netcom did not take any affirmative
action that directly resulted in copying plaintiffs' works other than by installing
and maintaining a system whereby software automatically forwards messages
received from subscribers onto the Usenet, and temporarily stores copies on its
system" (emphasis added)); id. at 1372 ("it does not make sense to adopt a rule that
could lead to the liability of countless parties whose role in the infringement is
nothing more than setting up and operating a system that is necessary for the
functioning of the Internet" (emphasis added)). And the court emphasized, in
particular, that Netcom's technological activities had nothing whatsoever to do
40 with control of content: "In contrast to some of its larger competitors, Netcom
does not create or control the content of the information available to its
subscribers; it merely provides access to the Internet, whose content is controlled
by no single entity." Id. at 1368.
It is plain to see that the Netcom court was not concerned with the type of
situation involved here. Unlike Netcom, LoopNet does control the content of
material posted on its website: only commercial real estate information is allowed,
and nothing else. See supra at 11-12. LoopNet employs human reviewers not just
as gatekeepers to screen out obscenity or pornography and the like technological
tools can do that but to ensure that the content does not deviate from LoopNet's
commercially-based prescription. Id. LoopNet does not "merely provide access"
to the Internet; what it provides is the opportunity to post specific types of material,
the content of which is specifically intended to attract other users, who would then
view the advertising LoopNet sold on its site. All of those activities creating a
content-based commercial website, screening material posted for consistency with
its content prescriptions, selling advertising based on the draw of the content to
other users are "volitional" activities that specifically encourage and channel the
conduct that results in infringement. LoopNet obviously has done much more than
"set[] up and operat[e] a system that is necessary for the functioning of the
Internet." Id. at 1372. Holding LoopNet liable for material posted on its subject-
41 matter-controlled, commercial website would in no way risk liability for the truly
passive, automatic purveyors of electronic information that are essential to the
operation of the Internet.
This case cannot be distinguished from Playboy Enterprises, Inc. v. Russ
Hardenburgh, Inc., 982 F. Supp. 503 (N.D. Ohio 1997), a post-Netcom, pre-
DMCA case that applied Netcom's "volition" element to deny immunity under the
same set of material facts. The defendant in that case operated a BBS to which
users posted materials, including adult photographs. Playboy sued alleging that
many of the photographs were owned by Playboy. The BBS operator sought
immunity from direct infringement under Netcom, but the court found that the BBS
was not a "passive" provider because of "two crucial facts": (1) the BBS operator
had a "policy of encouraging subscribers to upload files, including adult
photographs, onto the system," and (2) the BBS operator employed "a screening
procedure in which [the operator's] employees viewed all files in the upload file
and moved them into the generally available files for subscribers." Id. at 513.
"The two facts," the court held, "transform Defendants from passive providers of a
space in which infringing activities happened to occur to active participants in the
process of copyright infringement." Id.
Exactly the same "two crucial facts" are present here. LoopNet encourages
users to post real estate information, including photographs, on its website.
42 Indeed, that is LoopNet's commercial raison d'être. LoopNet employees view all
the postings and, if deemed appropriate, move them onto LoopNet's website.
Those activities transform LoopNet from a passive ISP where infringements may
just happen to occur, to an active participant, no different than a seller of infringing
real estate books. Accordingly, LoopNet, like the defendant in Russ Hardenburgh,
is not entitled to the special immunity Netcom reserved for truly passive, automatic
ISPs. See also Playboy Enterprises, Inc. v. Webbworld, Inc., 991 F. Supp. 543,
552 (N.D. Tex. 1997) (refusing to apply Netcom immunity to defendant that "did
not function as a mere provider of access," but instead provided particular content
and functioned as a "commercial destination within the Internet").
The district court's conclusion to the contrary is insupportable. The court
made no effort to address the fact that LoopNet explicitly encourages users to post
material, one of the facts the Russ Hardenburgh court found "crucial" to its
conclusion that the ISP in that case was not "passive" like Netcom. Indeed, the
district court did not address Russ Hardenburgh's analysis or holding on this point
at all, even though it was amply discussed in CoStar's briefs.
The court instead held that LoopNet is a "passive" ISP within the meaning
of Netcom simply because the uploading of photographs is "initiated" by
LoopNet's users. JA27. Later in its opinion, in the course of discussing an
entirely separate issue, the court elaborated the point slightly. CoStar argued
43 below that photographs on LoopNet's website are not "stored at the direction of a
user" and thus the DMCA § 512(c) safe harbor is inapplicable because it is
LoopNet, not the user, that has final say in selecting and uploading photographs.
In response that argument, the court stated: "[The photographs] are uploaded at
the volition of the user and are subject, not to a review and selection process, but to
a mere screening to assess whether they are commercial property and to catch any
obvious infringements. Although humans are involved rather than mere
technology, they serve only as a gateway and are not involved in a selection
process." JA32; see also JA31 n.6 ("whether the uploading process is controlled
by technological or human barriers is irrelevant"). Thus the district court's holding
appears to be that Netcom immunity applies whenever a user "initiates" the process
of uploading material i.e., a message or photograph even if, as here, the ISP
employs a system of human screening for every submission to ensure that its
content is within the narrow range prescribed by the ISP in order to further its
commercial goals. This is quite wrong.
To start, the court's dismissal of the relevance of LoopNet's process of
human screening flies directly in the face of both Netcom and ALS Scan, both of
which explicitly identified the lack of "human intervention" with respect to the
posting and messaging processes as the key factor that rendered Netcom a
"passive" ISP entitled to special protection from copyright liability. ALS Scan, 239
44 F.3d at 622; see Netcom, 907 F. Supp. at 1369. Nor was this just a linguistic fancy.
As discussed above, the whole point of Netcom was that the entire Internet might
be overrun with copyright liability if ISPs that "do no more than operate or
implement a system that is essential" to the functioning of the Internet can be held
liable for the infringing bits that flow through their systems. 907 F. Supp. at 1369-
70 (emphasis added)); see id. at 1372 (rejecting liability for ISPs that do "nothing
more than set[] up and operat[e] a system that is necessary for the functioning of
the Internet" (emphasis added). Netcom was held to be immune because it "merely
provides access to the Internet." Id. at 1372 (first emphasis added). The fact that
an ISP's system operates with significant human involvement i.e., individual
screening of every single photograph posted is a near-certain indicator that the
system is doing something more than just providing access and operating the basic
technology essential to the functioning of the Internet.
Thus the fact that LoopNet employs a system of human screening is enough
in and of itself to establish that LoopNet is not a "passive" ISP within the meaning
of Netcom. But here there is still more. The "volition" LoopNet exercises is not
reflected solely in its human screening. It includes the additional facts that
LoopNet encourages users to post material; that LoopNet actively and strictly
limits the content of all postings to the prescribed set of real estate information so
that other users will be attracted to the website; and that LoopNet not only screens
45 but sometimes edits photographs to keep them consistent with a certain quality
commercial message that LoopNet "sells" to other potential users. All of those
facts make this case much more like Russ Hardenburgh and nothing whatsoever
like Netcom. In short, exercising "volition" means more than just initiating
uploads; it means actively controlling, through human intervention if necessary,
the content of the information conveyed or displayed by the ISP. That is precisely
what LoopNet does, which is precisely why it is not a "passive" ISP.
Except for the electronic medium in which it operates, an ISP that copies,
distributes, or displays infringing material is just like any another copier,
distributor, or displayer of infringing material. To the extent the electronic
medium makes a difference, Congress has prescribed just what kind of difference it
should make. An ISP that does not qualify for the special protection Congress has
chosen to provide should not receive any additional protection. It should be treated
by the law just like any other entity that has conveyed or displayed infringing
material. If LoopNet received CoStar's photographs from users in paper form and
passed them around to other users, or sold them in a bookstore, or posted them on a
wall outside its headquarters, LoopNet would be liable for direct infringement.
Instead LoopNet posts them electronically on its website. Because of that one
distinguishing fact, Congress would have allowed LoopNet to escape the liability
46 that would otherwise have been strictly imposed, except that LoopNet has failed to
satisfy the conditions Congress prescribed for receiving such special treatment.
The district court's decision nevertheless to afford LoopNet special immunity from
copyright liability for conduct that would be infringing in any other medium is
incorrect and should be reversed.
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, the district court's order of summary judgment
for LoopNet on CoStar's claims for direct copyright infringement should be
reversed. The case should be remanded for entry of judgment for CoStar for all
direct infringement claims involving photographs posted prior to December 8,
1999, and for further factfinding with respect to all other direct infringement
claims.
Respectfully submitted,
WALTER DELLINGER
JONATHAN D. HACKER
O'MELVENY & MYERS LLP
1625 Eye Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20006
(202) 383-5300
Counsel for Appellants
47
CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE
I hereby certify that the foregoing Brief of Appellant complies with the type-
volume limitations prescribed by Fed. R. App. P. 32(a)(7)(B)(i). The brief
contains 11,693 words. Jonathan D. Hacker
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that on October 15, 2003, I caused two copies of the
foregoing Brief of Appellant to be served by first-class mail, postage pre-paid, on
the following counsel:
Kenneth Wilson
Kurt B. Opsahl
Perkins Coie LLP
180 Townsend Street
San Francisco, CA 94107
Jonathan D. Hacker
ADDENDUM
Digital Millennium Copyright Act Safe Harbors, 17 U.S. § 512
Section 512. Limitations on liability relating to material online
(a) Transitory Digital Network Communications. - A service provider shall not be liable for monetary relief, or, except as provided in subsection (j), for injunctive or other equitable relief, for infringement of copyright by reason of the provider's transmitting, routing, or providing connections for, material through a system or network controlled or operated by or for the service provider, or by reason of the intermediate and transient storage of that material in the course of such transmitting, routing, or providing connections, if -
(1) the transmission of the material was initiated by or at the
direction of a person other than the service provider;
(2) the transmission, routing, provision of connections, or
storage is carried out through an automatic technical process
without selection of the material by the service provider;
(3) the service provider does not select the recipients of the
material except as an automatic response to the request of
another person;
(4) no copy of the material made by the service provider in the
course of such intermediate or transient storage is maintained on
the system or network in a manner ordinarily accessible to anyone
other than anticipated recipients, and no such copy is maintained
on the system or network in a manner ordinarily accessible to
such anticipated recipients for a longer period than is
reasonably necessary for the transmission, routing, or provision
of connections; and
(5) the material is transmitted through the system or network
without modification of its content.
(b) System Caching. -
(1) Limitation on liability. - A service provider shall not be
liable for monetary relief, or, except as provided in subsection
(j), for injunctive or other equitable relief, for infringement
of copyright by reason of the intermediate and temporary storage
of material on a system or network controlled or operated by or
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for the service provider in a case in which -
(A) the material is made available online by a person other
than the service provider;
(B) the material is transmitted from the person described in
subparagraph (A) through the system or network to a person
other than the person described in subparagraph (A) at the
direction of that other person; and
(C) the storage is carried out through an automatic technical
process for the purpose of making the material available to
users of the system or network who, after the material is
transmitted as described in subparagraph (B), request access to
the material from the person described in subparagraph (A),
if the conditions set forth in paragraph (2) are met.
(2) Conditions. - The conditions referred to in paragraph (1)
are that -
(A) the material described in paragraph (1) is transmitted to
the subsequent users described in paragraph (1)(C) without
modification to its content from the manner in which the
material was transmitted from the person described in paragraph
(1)(A);
(B) the service provider described in paragraph (1) complies
with rules concerning the refreshing, reloading, or other
updating of the material when specified by the person making
the material available online in accordance with a generally
accepted industry standard data communications protocol for the
system or network through which that person makes the material
available, except that this subparagraph applies only if those
rules are not used by the person described in paragraph (1)(A)
to prevent or unreasonably impair the intermediate storage to
which this subsection applies;
(C) the service provider does not interfere with the ability
of technology associated with the material to return to the
person described in paragraph (1)(A) the information that would
have been available to that person if the material had been
obtained by the subsequent users described in paragraph (1)(C)
directly from that person, except that this subparagraph
applies only if that technology -
(i) does not significantly interfere with the performance
of the provider's system or network or with the intermediate
storage of the material;
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(ii) is consistent with generally accepted industry
standard communications protocols; and
(iii) does not extract information from the provider's
system or network other than the information that would have
been available to the person described in paragraph (1)(A) if
the subsequent users had gained access to the material
directly from that person;
(D) if the person described in paragraph (1)(A) has in effect
a condition that a person must meet prior to having access to
the material, such as a condition based on payment of a fee or
provision of a password or other information, the service
provider permits access to the stored material in significant
part only to users of its system or network that have met those
conditions and only in accordance with those conditions; and
(E) if the person described in paragraph (1)(A) makes that
material available online without the authorization of the
copyright owner of the material, the service provider responds
expeditiously to remove, or disable access to, the material
that is claimed to be infringing upon notification of claimed
infringement as described in subsection (c)(3), except that
this subparagraph applies only if -
(i) the material has previously been removed from the
originating site or access to it has been disabled, or a
court has ordered that the material be removed from the
originating site or that access to the material on the
originating site be disabled; and
(ii) the party giving the notification includes in the
notification a statement confirming that the material has
been removed from the originating site or access to it has
been disabled or that a court has ordered that the material
be removed from the originating site or that access to the
material on the originating site be disabled.
(c) Information Residing on Systems or Networks At Direction of
Users. -
(1) In general. - A service provider shall not be liable for
monetary relief, or, except as provided in subsection (j), for
injunctive or other equitable relief, for infringement of
copyright by reason of the storage at the direction of a user of
material that resides on a system or network controlled or
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operated by or for the service provider, if the service provider
-
(A)(i) does not have actual knowledge that the material or an
activity using the material on the system or network is
infringing;
(ii) in the absence of such actual knowledge, is not aware of
facts or circumstances from which infringing activity is
apparent; or
(iii) upon obtaining such knowledge or awareness, acts
expeditiously to remove, or disable access to, the material;
(B) does not receive a financial benefit directly
attributable to the infringing activity, in a case in which the
service provider has the right and ability to control such
activity; and
(C) upon notification of claimed infringement as described in
paragraph (3), responds expeditiously to remove, or disable
access to, the material that is claimed to be infringing or to
be the subject of infringing activity.
(2) Designated agent. - The limitations on liability
established in this subsection apply to a service provider only
if the service provider has designated an agent to receive
notifications of claimed infringement described in paragraph (3),
by making available through its service, including on its website
in a location accessible to the public, and by providing to the
Copyright Office, substantially the following information:
(A) the name, address, phone number, and electronic mail
address of the agent.
(B) other contact information which the Register of
Copyrights may deem appropriate.
The Register of Copyrights shall maintain a current directory of
agents available to the public for inspection, including through
the Internet, in both electronic and hard copy formats, and may
require payment of a fee by service providers to cover the costs
of maintaining the directory.
(3) Elements of notification. -
(A) To be effective under this subsection, a notification of
claimed infringement must be a written communication provided
to the designated agent of a service provider that includes
substantially the following:
(i) A physical or electronic signature of a person
A-4
authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive
right that is allegedly infringed.
(ii) Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have
been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single
online site are covered by a single notification, a
representative list of such works at that site.
(iii) Identification of the material that is claimed to be
infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and
that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled,
and information reasonably sufficient to permit the service
provider to locate the material.
(iv) Information reasonably sufficient to permit the
service provider to contact the complaining party, such as an
address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic
mail address at which the complaining party may be contacted.
(v) A statement that the complaining party has a good faith
belief that use of the material in the manner complained of
is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the
law.
(vi) A statement that the information in the notification
is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the
complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner
of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
(B)(i) Subject to clause (ii), a notification from a
copyright owner or from a person authorized to act on behalf of
the copyright owner that fails to comply substantially with the
provisions of subparagraph (A) shall not be considered under
paragraph (1)(A) in determining whether a service provider has
actual knowledge or is aware of facts or circumstances from
which infringing activity is apparent.
(ii) In a case in which the notification that is provided to
the service provider's designated agent fails to comply
substantially with all the provisions of subparagraph (A) but
substantially complies with clauses (ii), (iii), and (iv) of
subparagraph (A), clause (i) of this subparagraph applies only
if the service provider promptly attempts to contact the person
making the notification or takes other reasonable steps to
assist in the receipt of notification that substantially
complies with all the provisions of subparagraph (A).
A-5
(d) Information Location Tools. - A service provider shall not be liable for monetary relief, or, except as provided in subsection (j), for injunctive or other equitable relief, for infringement of copyright by reason of the provider referring or linking users to an online location containing infringing material or infringing activity, by using information location tools, including a directory, index, reference, pointer, or hypertext link, if the service provider -
(1)(A) does not have actual knowledge that the material or
activity is infringing;
(B) in the absence of such actual knowledge, is not aware of
facts or circumstances from which infringing activity is
apparent; or
(C) upon obtaining such knowledge or awareness, acts
expeditiously to remove, or disable access to, the material;
(2) does not receive a financial benefit directly attributable
to the infringing activity, in a case in which the service
provider has the right and ability to control such activity; and
(3) upon notification of claimed infringement as described in
subsection (c)(3), responds expeditiously to remove, or disable
access to, the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be
the subject of infringing activity, except that, for purposes of
this paragraph, the information described in subsection
(c)(3)(A)(iii) shall be identification of the reference or link,
to material or activity claimed to be infringing, that is to be
removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information
reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to locate
that reference or link.
(e) Limitation on Liability of Nonprofit Educational
Institutions. - (1) When a public or other nonprofit institution of higher education is a service provider, and when a faculty member or graduate student who is an employee of such institution is performing a teaching or research function, for the purposes of subsections (a) and (b) such faculty member or graduate student shall be considered to be a person other than the institution, and for the purposes of subsections (c) and (d) such faculty member's or graduate student's knowledge or awareness of his or her infringing activities shall not be attributed to the institution, if -
A-6
(A) such faculty member's or graduate student's infringing
activities do not involve the provision of online access to
instructional materials that are or were required or recommended,
within the preceding 3-year period, for a course taught at the
institution by such faculty member or graduate student;
(B) the institution has not, within the preceding 3-year
period, received more than two notifications described in
subsection (c)(3) of claimed infringement by such faculty member
or graduate student, and such notifications of claimed
infringement were not actionable under subsection (f); and
(C) the institution provides to all users of its system or
network informational materials that accurately describe, and
promote compliance with, the laws of the United States relating
to copyright.
(2) For the purposes of this subsection, the limitations on
injunctive relief contained in subsections (j)(2) and (j)(3), but not those in (j)(1), shall apply.
(f) Misrepresentations. - Any person who knowingly materially misrepresents under this section -
(1) that material or activity is infringing, or
(2) that material or activity was removed or disabled by
mistake or misidentification,
shall be liable for any damages, including costs and attorneys' fees, incurred by the alleged infringer, by any copyright owner or copyright owner's authorized licensee, or by a service provider, who is injured by such misrepresentation, as the result of the service provider relying upon such misrepresentation in removing or disabling access to the material or activity claimed to be infringing, or in replacing the removed material or ceasing to disable access to it.
(g) Replacement of Removed or Disabled Material and Limitation on Other Liability. -
(1) No liability for taking down generally. - Subject to
paragraph (2), a service provider shall not be liable to any
person for any claim based on the service provider's good faith
disabling of access to, or removal of, material or activity
claimed to be infringing or based on facts or circumstances from
which infringing activity is apparent, regardless of whether the
A-7
material or activity is ultimately determined to be infringing.
(2) Exception. - Paragraph (1) shall not apply with respect to
material residing at the direction of a subscriber of the service
provider on a system or network controlled or operated by or for
the service provider that is removed, or to which access is
disabled by the service provider, pursuant to a notice provided
under subsection (c)(1)(C), unless the service provider -
(A) takes reasonable steps promptly to notify the subscriber
that it has removed or disabled access to the material;
(B) upon receipt of a counter notification described in
paragraph (3), promptly provides the person who provided the
notification under subsection (c)(1)(C) with a copy of the
counter notification, and informs that person that it will
replace the removed material or cease disabling access to it in
10 business days; and
(C) replaces the removed material and ceases disabling access
to it not less than 10, nor more than 14, business days
following receipt of the counter notice, unless its designated
agent first receives notice from the person who submitted the
notification under subsection (c)(1)(C) that such person has
filed an action seeking a court order to restrain the
subscriber from engaging in infringing activity relating to the
material on the service provider's system or network.
(3) Contents of counter notification. - To be effective under
this subsection, a counter notification must be a written
communication provided to the service provider's designated agent
that includes substantially the following:
(A) A physical or electronic signature of the subscriber.
(B) Identification of the material that has been removed or
to which access has been disabled and the location at which the
material appeared before it was removed or access to it was
disabled.
(C) A statement under penalty of perjury that the subscriber
has a good faith belief that the material was removed or
disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the
material to be removed or disabled.
(D) The subscriber's name, address, and telephone number, and
a statement that the subscriber consents to the jurisdiction of
Federal District Court for the judicial district in which the
address is located, or if the subscriber's address is outside
A-8
of the United States, for any judicial district in which the
service provider may be found, and that the subscriber will
accept service of process from the person who provided
notification under subsection (c)(1)(C) or an agent of such
person.
(4) Limitation on other liability. - A service provider's
compliance with paragraph (2) shall not subject the service
provider to liability for copyright infringement with respect to
the material identified in the notice provided under subsection
(c)(1)(C).
(h) Subpoena To Identify Infringer. -
(1) Request. - A copyright owner or a person authorized to act
on the owner's behalf may request the clerk of any United States
district court to issue a subpoena to a service provider for
identification of an alleged infringer in accordance with this
subsection.
(2) Contents of request. - The request may be made by filing
with the clerk -
(A) a copy of a notification described in subsection
(c)(3)(A);
(B) a proposed subpoena; and
(C) a sworn declaration to the effect that the purpose for
which the subpoena is sought is to obtain the identity of an
alleged infringer and that such information will only be used
for the purpose of protecting rights under this title.
(3) Contents of subpoena. - The subpoena shall authorize and
order the service provider receiving the notification and the
subpoena to expeditiously disclose to the copyright owner or
person authorized by the copyright owner information sufficient
to identify the alleged infringer of the material described in
the notification to the extent such information is available to
the service provider.
(4) Basis for granting subpoena. - If the notification filed
satisfies the provisions of subsection (c)(3)(A), the proposed
subpoena is in proper form, and the accompanying declaration is
properly executed, the clerk shall expeditiously issue and sign
the proposed subpoena and return it to the requester for delivery
to the service provider.
(5) Actions of service provider receiving subpoena. - Upon
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receipt of the issued subpoena, either accompanying or subsequent
to the receipt of a notification described in subsection
(c)(3)(A), the service provider shall expeditiously disclose to
the copyright owner or person authorized by the copyright owner
the information required by the subpoena, notwithstanding any
other provision of law and regardless of whether the service
provider responds to the notification.
(6) Rules applicable to subpoena. - Unless otherwise provided
by this section or by applicable rules of the court, the
procedure for issuance and delivery of the subpoena, and the
remedies for noncompliance with the subpoena, shall be governed
to the greatest extent practicable by those provisions of the
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure governing the issuance, service,
and enforcement of a subpoena duces tecum.
(i) Conditions for Eligibility. -
(1) Accommodation of technology. - The limitations on liability
established by this section shall apply to a service provider
only if the service provider -
(A) has adopted and reasonably implemented, and informs
subscribers and account holders of the service provider's
system or network of, a policy that provides for the
termination in appropriate circumstances of subscribers and
account holders of the service provider's system or network who
are repeat infringers; and
(B) accommodates and does not interfere with standard
technical measures.
(2) Definition. - As used in this subsection, the term
"standard technical measures" means technical measures that are
used by copyright owners to identify or protect copyrighted works
and -
(A) have been developed pursuant to a broad consensus of
copyright owners and service providers in an open, fair,
voluntary, multi-industry standards process;
(B) are available to any person on reasonable and
nondiscriminatory terms; and
(C) do not impose substantial costs on service providers or
substantial burdens on their systems or networks.
(j) Injunctions. - The following rules shall apply in the case of
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any application for an injunction under section 502 against a service provider that is not subject to monetary remedies under this section:
(1) Scope of relief. - (A) With respect to conduct other than
that which qualifies for the limitation on remedies set forth in
subsection (a), the court may grant injunctive relief with
respect to a service provider only in one or more of the
following forms:
(i) An order restraining the service provider from providing
access to infringing material or activity residing at a
particular online site on the provider's system or network.
(ii) An order restraining the service provider from providing
access to a subscriber or account holder of the service
provider's system or network who is engaging in infringing
activity and is identified in the order, by terminating the
accounts of the subscriber or account holder that are specified
in the order.
(iii) Such other injunctive relief as the court may consider
necessary to prevent or restrain infringement of copyrighted
material specified in the order of the court at a particular
online location, if such relief is the least burdensome to the
service provider among the forms of relief comparably effective
for that purpose.
(B) If the service provider qualifies for the limitation on
remedies described in subsection (a), the court may only grant
injunctive relief in one or both of the following forms:
(i) An order restraining the service provider from providing
access to a subscriber or account holder of the service
provider's system or network who is using the provider's
service to engage in infringing activity and is identified in
the order, by terminating the accounts of the subscriber or
account holder that are specified in the order.
(ii) An order restraining the service provider from providing
access, by taking reasonable steps specified in the order to
block access, to a specific, identified, online location
outside the United States.
(2) Considerations. - The court, in considering the relevant
criteria for injunctive relief under applicable law, shall
consider -
(A) whether such an injunction, either alone or in
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combination with other such injunctions issued against the same
service provider under this subsection, would significantly
burden either the provider or the operation of the provider's
system or network;
(B) the magnitude of the harm likely to be suffered by the
copyright owner in the digital network environment if steps are
not taken to prevent or restrain the infringement;
(C) whether implementation of such an injunction would be
technically feasible and effective, and would not interfere
with access to noninfringing material at other online
locations; and
(D) whether other less burdensome and comparably effective
means of preventing or restraining access to the infringing
material are available.
(3) Notice and ex parte orders. - Injunctive relief under this
subsection shall be available only after notice to the service
provider and an opportunity for the service provider to appear
are provided, except for orders ensuring the preservation of
evidence or other orders having no material adverse effect on the
operation of the service provider's communications network.
(k) Definitions. -
(1) Service provider. - (A) As used in subsection (a), the term
"service provider" means an entity offering the transmission,
routing, or providing of connections for digital online
communications, between or among points specified by a user, of
material of the user's choosing, without modification to the
content of the material as sent or received.
(B) As used in this section, other than subsection (a), the
term "service provider" means a provider of online services or
network access, or the operator of facilities therefor, and
includes an entity described in subparagraph (A).
(2) Monetary relief. - As used in this section, the term
"monetary relief" means damages, costs, attorneys' fees, and
any other form of monetary payment.
(l) Other Defenses Not Affected. - The failure of a service
provider's conduct to qualify for limitation of liability under this section shall not bear adversely upon the consideration of a defense by the service provider that the service provider's conduct
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is not infringing under this title or any other defense.
(m) Protection of Privacy. - Nothing in this section shall be construed to condition the applicability of subsections (a) through (d) on -
(1) a service provider monitoring its service or affirmatively
seeking facts indicating infringing activity, except to the
extent consistent with a standard technical measure complying
with the provisions of subsection (i); or
(2) a service provider gaining access to, removing, or
disabling access to material in cases in which such conduct is
prohibited by law.
(n) Construction. - Subsections (a), (b), (c), and (d) describe
separate and distinct functions for purposes of applying this section. Whether a service provider qualifies for the limitation on liability in any one of those subsections shall be based solely on the criteria in that subsection, and shall not affect a determination of whether that service provider qualifies for the limitations on liability under any other such subsection.
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