12 Aug What is DMCA?
Posted
in Industry Knowledge
If you create and share content on the internet, then protecting your work from being stolen and shared without your consent is a priority. The copyright law that covers digital content is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, known by its acronym DMCA. In this piece, I will explain what the DMCA is, how it is used to protect adult content, and some problems and controversies that accompany its enforcement.
What is DMCA?
DMCA refers to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act which is a US copyright law. It was signed into law in 1998 by President Bill Clinton and places responsibility on internet service providers to remove copyrighted content. Under this law, owners of content which has been uploaded to a site without their consent can contact the site owner and request its removal. These requests are formally known as a DMCA takedown notice, and under this law, sites that host user generated content must have a policy and procedure to help copyright owners lodge these requests. DMCA takedown notices can be used to remove a wide variety of digital content including video clips, music, images, and artwork.
The DMCA comprises two parts; the first one I just described which refers to actual content. The second part of it criminalises the creation and distribution of technology, devices and services which are intended to help people pirate content. The DMCA was created to address the gaps in traditional copyright law which appeared when it was applied to digital content. This second part of the law addresses the unique way an original piece of digital content can be reproduced ad infinitum, if there is appropriate technology and services available to do so.
how is the dmca used for adult content?
DMCA can be used by anyone to remove copyrighted content from the internet, and adult content creators are no exception. Pornography is the most pirated item on the internet, with recent stats showing 35.8% of total pirated content is from the adult industry. Sites that you upload your content to will have a policy around DMCA enforcement, with many providing digital fingerprinting and watermarks to your content for if there is an attempt to upload it elsewhere. It is in the site’s best interest to ensure that your content is not stolen, as each item stolen is money that they have also lost. Therefore, sites invest resources into their DMCA teams who issue takedowns on behalf of performers on their sites and in cases where DMCA cannot be enforced, they will work to make the content harder for those who want a freebie to find it.
Due to the level of piracy in the adult industry, many models will work with DMCA takedown companies to find and remove stolen content. Finding all pirated content and issuing takedown notices as an individual performer (or even as a production company) is an enormous task, and thankfully there are many options if you want someone to work on your behalf to do this. Be warned though; you may be shocked at the amount of content that has been stolen from you, and the reports from DMCA takedown firms can be nightmare fuel.
problems with dmca and enforcing it
DMCA is not without its issues. It can be abused, as some sites will err on the side of caution and remove content after receiving a takedown notice, without investigating. This can be frustrating for creators having their content removed when it does not violate copyright law, but it can also constrain innovation and artistic freedom when people are creating content.
Although the DMCA is a US law, it can be applied to content outside of the US, although this is tricky to enforce, particularly for smaller creators. As I said before, the adult industry is the source of most of the pirated content on the internet, and getting one video removed from a site hosted outside of the US without having to resort to costly legal action relies on the good faith of the site owner. This is why sites and DMCA takedown services also employ techniques like breaking the links to the content in cases where the site owners are unresponsive. This means that your pirated content will not be available to find in search functions, therefore denying the site traffic.
So what do we do when it comes to having our content pirated and shared without our consent? Join me when I discuss this in a future blog!
Rem Sequence is an Australian adult content creator, blogger and internationally published alt model. She has a background in psychology, philosophy and political science and has worked in health and sex education, youth work and trauma counseling for almost two decades.
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If you create and share content on the internet, then protecting your work from being stolen and shared without your consent is a priority. The copyright law that covers digital content is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, known by its acronym DMCA. In this piece, I will explain what the DMCA is, how it is used to protect adult content, and some problems and controversies that accompany its enforcement.
What is DMCA?
DMCA refers to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act which is a US copyright law. It was signed into law in 1998 by President Bill Clinton and places responsibility on internet service providers to remove copyrighted content. Under this law, owners of content which has been uploaded to a site without their consent can contact the site owner and request its removal. These requests are formally known as a DMCA takedown notice, and under this law, sites that host user generated content must have a policy and procedure to help copyright owners lodge these requests. DMCA takedown notices can be used to remove a wide variety of digital content including video clips, music, images, and artwork.
The DMCA comprises two parts; the first one I just described which refers to actual content. The second part of it criminalises the creation and distribution of technology, devices and services which are intended to help people pirate content. The DMCA was created to address the gaps in traditional copyright law which appeared when it was applied to digital content. This second part of the law addresses the unique way an original piece of digital content can be reproduced ad infinitum, if there is appropriate technology and services available to do so.
how is the dmca used for adult content?
DMCA can be used by anyone to remove copyrighted content from the internet, and adult content creators are no exception. Pornography is the most pirated item on the internet, with recent stats showing 35.8% of total pirated content is from the adult industry. Sites that you upload your content to will have a policy around DMCA enforcement, with many providing digital fingerprinting and watermarks to your content for if there is an attempt to upload it elsewhere. It is in the site’s best interest to ensure that your content is not stolen, as each item stolen is money that they have also lost. Therefore, sites invest resources into their DMCA teams who issue takedowns on behalf of performers on their sites and in cases where DMCA cannot be enforced, they will work to make the content harder for those who want a freebie to find it.
Due to the level of piracy in the adult industry, many models will work with DMCA takedown companies to find and remove stolen content. Finding all pirated content and issuing takedown notices as an individual performer (or even as a production company) is an enormous task, and thankfully there are many options if you want someone to work on your behalf to do this. Be warned though; you may be shocked at the amount of content that has been stolen from you, and the reports from DMCA takedown firms can be nightmare fuel.
problems with dmca and enforcing it
DMCA is not without its issues. It can be abused, as some sites will err on the side of caution and remove content after receiving a takedown notice, without investigating. This can be frustrating for creators having their content removed when it does not violate copyright law, but it can also constrain innovation and artistic freedom when people are creating content.
Although the DMCA is a US law, it can be applied to content outside of the US, although this is tricky to enforce, particularly for smaller creators. As I said before, the adult industry is the source of most of the pirated content on the internet, and getting one video removed from a site hosted outside of the US without having to resort to costly legal action relies on the good faith of the site owner. This is why sites and DMCA takedown services also employ techniques like breaking the links to the content in cases where the site owners are unresponsive. This means that your pirated content will not be available to find in search functions, therefore denying the site traffic.
So what do we do when it comes to having our content pirated and shared without our consent? Join me when I discuss this in a future blog!
Rem Sequence is an Australian adult content creator, blogger and internationally published alt model. She has a background in psychology, philosophy and political science and has worked in health and sex education, youth work and trauma counseling for almost two decades.
