3.1.1. Notice and takedown policy

The previous mentioned Notice and Takedown Policy is part of The Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act (OCILLA), which is section § 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). In 1998, US Congress passed OCILLA in an effort to protect service providers on the Internet from liability for the activities of its users and thus creating a conditional safe harbor for Online Service Providers (OSPs) such as YouTube. The statute describes two ways in which an OSP can be put on notice of infringing material on its system by a notice from the copyright owner or the existence of “red flags.” In which case, the OSP looses its liability for the law and could be held accountable for the infringing content and thus liable for monetary damages.

When a movie is taken down because of copyright infringement, a notice is put up instead of the video stating that the video is no longer available due to a copyright claim and from whom.