Internet Intermediaries and Copyright Law

All forms of online communications and interactions between people and companies on the Internet are facilitated by intermediaries – service providers whose decisions and policies have a shaping effect on the Internet, its users and the information shared on it. Today, because such intermediaries employ technologies that go well beyond the mere transmission and storage of information into new realms potentially disrupting existing business models,  a rethinking of existing relevant law is called for. The legal analysis and recommendations in this book put the topic of intermediary liability in the perspective of copyright law and offer a vision on how to regulate that liability.

In the context of in-depth and up-to-date analyses on EU, US, German and Dutch law, the author discusses such issues and topics as the following:

• the liability rules in the new Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market;
• liability for the intermediary’s own copyright infringements (primary liability);
• the intermediary’s responsibility to stop or prevent the infringements of others (secondary liability);
• the role that fundamental rights play in copyright law and intermediary liability;
• the rights and interests of copyright owners, intermediaries and users, and how they are protected;
• notice-and-takedown by service providers;
• website blocking by Internet access providers;
• the publisher’s rights and the use of online articles by platforms;
• legal status of hyperlinks under copyright law; and
• search engine use of copyrighted materials.

A focus on the strengths and weaknesses of existing EU copyright law concerning Internet intermediaries in terms of how future-proof that law is, includes detailed attention to legislation, regulation and case law.

With its deeply informed guidance with respect to the methods of regulation in a domain that is heavily influenced by technological developments, this book will be welcomed by policymakers, legislators, academics, judges and practitioners working in the area of copyright law as applied to the Internet. The detailed attention to the extent to which an intermediary can be held liable for copyright infringements in both the EU and the US will prove highly beneficial for in-house counsellors and advisors working for rights holder organizations and intermediary service providers.