US Copyright Law
17 U.S.C. § 1202 (Supp. 1999)
(a) False Copyright Management Information.-No person
shall knowingly and with the intent to induce, enable, facilitate, or conceal
infringement-
(1) provide copyright management information that is
false, or
(2) distribute or import for distribution copyright
management information that is false.
(b) Removal or Alteration of Copyright Management
Information.-
No person shall, without the authority of the copyright
owner or the law-
(1) intentionally remove or alter any copyright
management information,
(2) distribute or import for distribution copyright
management information knowing that the copyright management information has
been removed or altered without authority of the copyright owner or the law,
or
(3) distribute, import for distribution, or publicly
perform works, copies of works, or phonorecords, knowing that copyright
management information has been removed or altered without authority of the
copyright owner or the law, knowing, or, with respect to civil remedies under
section 1203, having reasonable grounds to know, that it will induce, enable,
facilitate, or conceal an infringement of any right under this title.
(c) Definition.-As used in this section, the term
"copyright management information" means any of the following
information conveyed in connection with copies or phonorecords of a work or
performances or displays of a work, including in digital form, except that
such term does not include any personally identifying information about a user
of a work or of a copy, phonorecord, performance, or display of a work:
(1) The title and other information identifying the
work, including the information set forth on a notice of copyright.
(2) The name of, and other identifying information
about, the author of a work.
(3) The name of, and other identifying information
about, the copyright owner of the work, including the information set forth in
a notice of copyright.
(4) With the exception of public performances of works
by radio and television broadcast stations, the name of, and other identifying
information about, a performer whose performance is fixed in a work other than
an audiovisual work.
(5) With the exception of public performances of works
by radio and television broadcast stations, in the case of an audiovisual
work, the name of, and other identifying information about, a writer,
performer, or director who is credited in the audiovisual work.
(6) Terms and conditions for use of the work.
(7) Identifying numbers or symbols referring to such
information or links to such information.
(8) Such other information as the Register of
Copyrights may prescribe by regulation, except that the Register of Copyrights
may not require the provision of any information concerning the user of a
copyrighted work.
(d) Law Enforcement, Intelligence, and Other Government
Activities.-This section does not prohibit any lawfully authorized
investigative, protective, information security, or intelligence activity of
an officer, agent, or employee of the United States, a State, or a political
subdivision of a State, or a person acting pursuant to a contract with the
United States, a State, or a political subdivision of a State. For purposes of
this subsection, the term "information security" means activities
carried out in order to identify and address the vulnerabilities of a
government computer, computer system, or computer network.
(e) Limitations on Liability.-
(1) Analog Transmissions.-In the case of an analog
transmission, a person who is making transmissions in its capacity as a
broadcast station, or as a cable system, or someone who provides programming
to such station or system, shall not be liable for a violation of subsection
(b) if-
(A) avoiding the activity that constitutes such
violation is not technically feasible or would create an undue financial
hardship on such person; and
(B) such person did not intend, by engaging in such
activity, to induce, enable, facilitate, or conceal infringement of a right
under this title.
(2) Digital Transmissions.-
(A) If a digital transmission standard for the placement
of copyright management information for a category of works is set in a
voluntary, consensus standard-setting process involving a representative
cross-section of broadcast stations or cable systems and copyright owners of a
category of works that are intended for public performance by such stations or
systems, a person identified in paragraph (1) shall not be liable for a
violation of subsection (b) with respect to the particular copyright
management information addressed by such standard if-
(i) the placement of such information by someone other
than such person is not in accordance with such standard; and
(ii) the activity that constitutes such violation is
not intended to induce, enable, facilitate, or conceal infringement of a right
under this title.
(B) Until a digital transmission standard has been set
pursuant to subparagraph (A) with respect to the placement of copyright
management information for a category of works, a person identified in
paragraph (1) shall not be liable for a violation of subsection (b) with
respect to such copyright management information, if the activity that
constitutes such violation is not intended to induce, enable, facilitate, or
conceal infringement of a right under this title, and if-
(i) the transmission of such information by such person
would result in a perceptible visual or aural degradation of the digital
signal; or
(ii) the transmission of such information by such
person would conflict with-
(I) an applicable government regulation relating to
transmission of information in a digital signal;
(II) an applicable industry-wide standard relating to
the transmission of information in a digital signal that was adopted by a
voluntary consen-sus standards body prior to the effective date of this
chapter; or
(III) an applicable industry-wide standard relating to
the transmission of information in a digital signal that was adopted in a
voluntary, consensus standards-setting process open to participation by a
representative cross-section of broadcast stations or cable systems and
copyright owners of a category of works that are intended for public
performance by such stations or systems.
(3) Definitions.-As used in this subsection-
(A) the term "broadcast station" has the
meaning given that term in section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47
U.S.C. 153); and
(B) the term "cable system" has the meaning
given that term in section 602 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.
522).