The "Digital Millenium Copyright Act", or DMCA for short, became law several years ago and expanded copyright to address several issues regarding computers and the internet.
Some of the more important provisions of the DCMA are:
(1) Providing that the Internet Service Provider (and other parties who play similar roles) will not be liable for copyright infringement in certain circumstances:
a. In order to maintain its protection from liability, the ISP must follow the procedures set forth in the statute regarding registration with the Copyright Office, receipt of a claim of infringement, removal of the item allegedly infringing, notice to the infringer and other steps as set forth in the DCMA. These are exactly the steps that Metallica and Napster followed when Metallica asserted a claim of infringement by users of the Napster site;
b. Regarding temporary storage and transmission of infringing materials;
c. Regarding linking users to a site that contains infringing materials;
d. Regarding the storage of infringing materials at the directions of users.
(2) Provides circumstances in which making a copy of software for maintenance purposes is permitted.
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