Responding to DMCA Infringement Claims

An anonymous submitter sent in this: "This isn't exactly a news item, but it seems appropriate in light of the current debate over copyrights. TechTV has a useful story on their site about how to respond to a notification from your ISP that someone is claiming you're infringing on their copyright. Basically, it's a do-it-yourself letter that you can use to make the person or organization alleging infringement properly document their claim, as required under the DMCA. This isn't going to save anyone who's actually infringing, but it might prevent you from being railroaded by an aggressive complainant and/or a nervous ISP. And you might still get screwed in the end, but at least you can make everyone follow the correct procedures, even if they're incredibly biased at the moment." Under the DMCA, the copyright holder sends a notice to you/your ISP and states, basically, that you are posting some of their copyrighted material and demanding that the ISP take it down. We've seen many instances where this is a false or bogus claim. Dave Touretzky, whose name ought to be familiar to slashdot readers from the DeCSS cases, made up this guide to writing a response letter demanding that your ISP reinstate the materials. Very useful, well worth bookmarking.

Comments

How to respond to DMCA Infringement Claims

[AntiNorm]

(Only if you're not infringing...if you're blatantly infringing, such as by running a warez ISO site, you deserve what you get)

1. Buy yourself a good lawyer.
2. Find out which judge the complainants plan to use.
3. Find out what price the complainants are willing to pay for the judge.
4. Offer the judge 10% more.
5. Recoup the cost of the judge as part of the settlement -- remember, he who pays the most wins.

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