Copyright liability for Internet service providers and innovation

Copyright Law

To promote innovation in developing new technologies, Copyright laws need to be considered and implemented into the innovation plans. Internet Service Providers (ISP) can be held liable for a user committing copyright infringement on the ISPs site under specific circumstances. Internet users who violate Copyright Law can be held responsible by copyright owners and ISPs. Copyright owners can prosecute ISPs and their users by meeting certain conditions, such as cogent evidence.

There are lessons to be learned from Roadshow Film Pty Ltd. v iiNet Limited (AFACT v iiNet) (Moore, 2012). ISPs can terminate or suspend a user account for violation of a Customer Relations Agreement that clearly states that violations of law would hold certain consequences, such as termination of the account. Copyright owners must provide cogent evidence of the acts in a written notice to the ISP that states the methodology of the investigation and the findings. ISPs must be compensated for verifying the infringement, and indemnity provided in respect of any liability. ISPs can be held responsible for a user infringing on others copyrights for repeated infringement without steps being taken to prevent or stop the infringement.