U.S. Copyright Office Launches Study on Impact and Effectiveness of DMCA “Safe Harbor” Provisions

Note:  This is the SECOND study the U.S. Copyright Office has announced this week. Yesterday, the USCO formally published details of a DMCA “Operation” Study.
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From the U.S. Copyright Office:

The U.S. Copyright Office is initiating a study to assess the impact and effectiveness of section 512 of Title 17. To aid this effort, the Office will publish on December 31, 2015, a Federal Register notice soliciting written comments from the public on several aspects of section 512, including the general operation of section 512’s safe harbor provisions, the processes for issuing takedown notices and counter notifications, and the legal standards that apply under the statute.
Written comments must be received no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on March 21, 2016. Specific instructions for submitting comments will be posted on the Copyright Office website on or before February 1, 2016. The Office will be announcing one or more public meetings, to take place after the initial written comments are received, by separate notice in the future.

From the Section 512 Study Info Page

While Congress understood that it would be essential to address online infringement as the internet continued to grow, it may have been difficult to anticipate the online world as we now know it, where each day users upload hundreds of millions of photos, videos and other items, and service providers receive over a million notices of alleged infringement. The growth of the internet has highlighted issues concerning section 512 that appear ripe for study. Accordingly, as recommended by the Register of Copyrights, Maria A. Pallante, in testimony and requested by Ranking Member Conyers at an April 2015 House Judiciary Committee hearing, the Office is initiating a study to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of section 512 and has issued a Notice of Inquiry requesting public comment. Among other issues, the Office will consider the costs and burdens of the notice-and-takedown process on large- and small-scale copyright owners, online service providers, and the general public. The Office will also review how successfully section 512 addresses online infringement and protects against improper takedown notices.

Direct to Full Text of Notice of Inquiry (26 pages; PDF) and [Embedded Below]

Notice of Inquriry: Impact and Effectiveness of DMCA Safe Harbor Provisions Study

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