The Online Copyright Infringement Obligations Code

The Digital Economy Act 2010 ("DEA") was given Royal Assent on 8 April 2010. The DEA contains a number of provisions including measures designed to reduce online copyright infringement.

Click to read Taylor Wessing's Guide to the Digital Economy Act 2010.

Measures include the requirement for Internet Service Providers ("ISPs") to send notifications to their subscribers where they have received a report of copyright infringement by those subscribers from copyright owners. ISPs are also required to create records on the number of reports they receive against their subscribers and provide anonymised lists to copyright owners setting out, in relation to each copyright owner, which of the reports it has made relate to a subscriber who has reached a threshold number of notifications of alleged infringements. The ISP would then make subscribers' personal data available to the copyright owner on receipt of a court order so they can take action against those subscribers.

The DEA clearly sets out how Ofcom should implement many elements of the measures but leaves the detail for other measures to be produced through a number of consultation processes. Ofcom was obliged under the DEA, through the inclusion of new sections in the Communications Act 2003, to draw up a code of practice called the Online Copyright Infringement Obligations Code (the "Code") to effect these measures.

On 28 May 2010 Ofcom published its draft of the Code for consultation. The Code is a detailed document and covers many different requirements that effect both ISPs and copyright owners. This e-alert summarises the key provisions of the draft Code.

To read the full article click here.

Lawyers Graham Hann, Niri Shanmuganathan