The Digital Economy Act 2010 aims to combat the seeming tsunami of copyright infringement on the Internet.
In principle, the way the Act will do this is simple. When a copyright owner advises an Internet Service Provider (ISP) that a website it hosts is infringing the copyright owner’s copyright – which it does by filing a Copyright Infringement Report (CIR) – the ISP will send a notification to the website owner and will warn them that it will retain the notification for 12 months. It will do the same if a second complaint is made.
There is a system for the provision of further information by the ISP to the copyright owner (normally, once a third CIR is lodged). The copyright owner can then obtain a court order requiring the ISP to identify the subscriber so that court proceedings can be launched.
The long stop is that a new maximum fine of £50,000 can be applied for some copyright infringement offences. ISPs which fail in their obligations under the Act can also face fines of up to £250,000.
Problems with the Act include:
- It does not apply to all ISPs, only the largest ones;
- The system for supplying the information to copyright owners whose copyright is being breached is long-winded and may limit the commercial value of a complaint;
- The procedure will involve the copyright owner in costs which may not justify the making of a complaint; and
- There appears to be little guarantee that the ISP will be able to identify the defaulting subscriber, if they wish to obscure their identity, or to act if the infringement of copyright stems from ‘free access’ points.
