DMCA SUBPOENA FACT SHEET

What is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA")?

The DMCA is a federal statute that Congress enacted in 1998 to address the growing concern about the infringement of copyrighted works over the Internet. The DMCA did not change the basic tenets of copyright law, but rather set forth certain protections for, and obligations of, Internet Service Providers ("ISPs").

What is a subpoena?

A subpoena is a judicially enforceable demand for information. A subpoena indicates the information that must be provided, the location to which the information must be sent, and the date by which the information must be provided.

What is a "DMCA subpoena"?

The DMCA provides that copyright owners (or their designated agents) may obtain a subpoena from the Clerk of a United States District Court for the purpose of seeking information from an ISP that will identify someone believed to have used the ISP's services while committing copyright infringement over the Internet. For example, copyright owners often request that ISPs provide the name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address of an alleged copyright infringer who was using an Internet Protocol ("IP") address that was registered to the ISP at the particular date and time noted in the subpoena.

What must a copyright owner do to obtain a DMCA subpoena?

To obtain a DMCA subpoena, a copyright owner must have a good faith belief that the person whose identity is sought has committed copyright infringement. The copyright owner may then present a subpoena request to the Clerk of the Court that requires the user's ISP to identify the person who was using the particular IP address when the copyright owner observed the copyright infringement. The copyright owner must provide certain information to the Clerk of the Court, including a representative list of copyrighted works that allegedly were being infringed by the user, a notice to the ISP stating that the copyright owner has a good faith belief that the person described in the subpoena has used the ISP's network to commit copyright infringement, and a sworn declaration stating that the identification information obtained in response to the subpoena will be used only to protect rights under the Copyright Act.

Why is the Clerk of the Court issuing DMCA subpoenas?

The DMCA says that the Clerk of the Court shall issue a proposed DMCA subpoena when a copyright owner presents a proposed subpoena and the other required notices and declarations. (See "What must a copyright owner do in order to obtain a DMCA subpoena?"). If a request for a subpoena meets the statutory requirements, the statute requires the Clerk of the Court to issue the subpoena.

How does the DMCA subpoena process take into account my right to privacy?

It is important to understand that the DMCA limits both the types of information that a copyright owner can obtain via subpoena and the purpose for which the information can be used. Specifically, a copyright owner may only receive information sufficient to identify the alleged copyright infringer and may use that information only for purposes of protecting its copyright. Moreover, no information can be disclosed to the copyright owner until certain procedural requirements prescribed in the DMCA have been met. (See "What must a copyright owner do in order to obtain a DMCA subpoena?"). Once a valid subpoena has been issued, the ISP that receives the subpoena must disclose to the copyright owner the subscriber's identifying information. Most ISPs make this clear in their Terms of Service. It's worth noting that a federal court recently ruled that the DMCA subpoena process in no way infringes on the right to privacy.

How will I know if a copyright owner has delivered a DMCA subpoena to my ISP in order to identify me?

The DMCA does not require ISPs to notify subscribers that they've been served with a DMCA subpoena. However, as a matter of customer relations, some ISPs do choose to provide such notice. Individual ISP subscribers should consult the Terms of Service or DMCA policies provided by their ISPs-or contact their ISPs directly-in order to determine whether their ISP will notify them in the event the ISP receives a subpoena requesting identification information about the subscriber.

How do I object to my identification information being released in response to a DMCA subpoena?

You should consult your own legal counsel regarding the cost, procedures, and advisability of filing a formal objection. Simply sending a letter to the Clerk of the Court has no legal effect. If you wish to object to your identification information being released to a copyright owner in response to a DMCA subpoena, DO NOT send a letter to the Clerk of the United States District Court.

Who can I contact if I have additional questions about a DMCA subpoena obtained by the Recording Industry Association of America?

If your ISP has sent you a copy of a DMCA subpoena obtained by the RIAA seeking identifying information about you, and you have questions about it that are not answered by these FAQs, you should contact your ISP or your own legal counsel. DO NOT call the Clerk of the United States District Court, because the law prohibits the Clerk from giving legal advice.

"To obtain a DMCA subpoena, a copyright owner must have a good faith belief that the person whose identity is sought has committed copyright infringement." Ya OK that really makes me feel better that people will not abuse the system and infringe on my privacy. Hmm.... I wonder if there is a Privacy infringement lawsuit that could be brought against the RIAA for the False Information they provide to get these Subpoenas. Would they pay for moving, Name changes, and everything else If you felt your Privacy was infringed to the point you had to change your identiy.

subpoena cary sherman....post his info all over the internet....then drop the case.

Herein lies the entire problem. Thank you riaa for laying out all the issues in such an organizaed manner. The better to shove them up your ass with I say.

Herein lies the entire problem. Thank you riaa for laying out all the issues in such an organizaed manner. The better to shove them up your ass with I say.

Purfus, I say "Hear, hear!"
~zippy.

What is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA")?

The DMCA is a federal statute that Congress enacted in 1998 to address the growing concern about the ability to maintain an information-based monopoly in the digital age. It did not change the basic tenets of the copyrights law, except to add an entire new section and modify several others in an effort to make the original tenets unrecognizable.

What must a copyright owner do to obtain a DMCA subpoena?

Not too damn much. If you think that possibly in some manner there may have been an infringement, you are now allowed to drag someone through court on basically no evidence whatsoever. A registered copyright now comes with honorary membership in law enforcement.

How can I find out what to do if the vultures send me a subpoena?

DO NOT call the Clerk of the United States District Court. They are not allowed to give legal advice to persons not owning copyrights. Besides, it will only interfere with and delay their ability to process more subpoenas.

"What is a subpoena?

A subpoena is a judicially enforceable demand for information. A subpoena indicates the information that must be provided, the location to which the information must be sent, and the date by which the information must be provided."


Interetsting. So they went through the judicial system entirely in order to obtain these subpoenas? Hmmm...

Glad to hear boycott is now putting some of the BS from riaa.com, newjon, please post responses to more of there unbelievable news stories that get published all the time there.

More BULLSHIT from the RIAA!!!!!!! Did you see that they intentionally left out the part about the DMCA where copyright owners can obtain information about a particular subscriber from an ISP without a judge's signature required. They intentionally left this out and probably left some other stuff out to try and make people believe it what they are doing is reasonable!!! NOBODY believe any of the RIAA's BULLSHIT!!!!! Continue BOYCOTTING RIAA!!!!! Keep freely swapping copyrighted music online while finding ways to be ANONYMOUS and SECURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What are the bets that copyright
owners never get any money from the lawsuit settlements? They don't! I guess that means they wasted their time requesting subpeonas.

Can't "Good Faith Belief" be proven in a court of law as "Hear-Say"? Sure doesn't look like proof to me. But what do I know? I'm not a lawyer. Wonder what Leflaw's take on Good Faith Belief is?

The phrase "Good Faith Belief" and the acronym "RIAA" are intrinsically opposed to each other and as such, have no business being used in the same document to support each other.

Just my opinion: we need to start concentrating on getting the DMCA either completely overturned or seriously amended in addition to the boycott. How can I begin this process?

WHEW.. all this spinning is making me ill!

The subpoenas issued by the RIAA are illegal. (at least I think they are).

1) The people being named are being denied their right to due process, which in this case means that no evidence was presented against them, and the subpoenas were never signed by a judge.

2) To collect data (or evidence) for criminal procedings, you must have a search warrant. There is a president for electronic searches since the FBI and etc must have a signed warrant for a wire tap on a phone. So if they are going to use your shared folder against you, they need to have a search warrant

3) I don't belive this is a civil issue, if it went to court it would have to be tried as a felony criminal case due to the huge amount of compensation being asked for.
**this is my opinion only, leflaw and the other legally inclined people my be laughing at my interpretation**

Regarding #2 if RIAA or FBI or any of their appointed agents were hanging around snooping in your computer files, couldn't someone named in a subpoena file one against the RIAA? Wouldn't the mere fact they were spying and hacking your computer give you (the defendant) a "good faith" reason to believe that some of your personal copyrighted creations (letter to grandma, anything you created yourself) were infringed without your permission?


Next random rant, If I were the subject of a subpoena, could I try to get an injuction (I hope these are even close to the correct legal terms) against the RIAA since I claim the subpoena denies my of the right to due process?

darknite- while I share your feelings about the wrongfulness of the RIAA's actions, under the DMCA, a horrible piece of crap that needs to be repealed asap, their actions are, unfortunately, legal. You have to understand this, the DMCA is foreign in concept to this country. I say this because it is a title 17 implementation of the World Intellectual Property Organization copyright guidelines. WIPO is EURO legal trash, plain and simple.

Due process, at this point, ONLY applies as a protection against governmental actions. But, I would hasten to add that as a court issues the subpoena, that it appears the government IS getting involved, and I would love to find a way of imposing the constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures against the RIAA, and believe such a ruling in court would be wholly justified.

But, insofar as we examine the RIAA's acts just under the DMCA, they are following the law provided therein.

That's why I keep saying...REPEAL THE DMCA!

JusticeForAll - you are right on target!
Stay Tuned to this Channel.
~CodeWarrior

I'm with Code.. we gonna be gettin REAL political.. REAL soon.. By the way, have you registered to vote. All of us have important issues locally to vote on next week. Get your info, get to the polls and practice using your political power locally. If you are doing this for the first time, congratulations.. just remember that even if your issue or candidate did not win, at least you counted up to their side.. that is SO IMPORTANT. Everyone, every vote is needed.