The term "DMCA" came into news in June 2021 suddenly, as India's law minister found himself locked out of Twitter due to a violation.
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Twitter versus Minister R.S. Prasad - the DMCA tangle
- The story: The term "DMCA" came into news in June 2021 suddenly, as India's law minister found himself locked out of Twitter due to a violation of the said act. The problem was a 2017 tweet related to music director AR Rahman's famous song 'Maa Tujhe Salaam', which was found in violation of Twitter's copyright policy.
- Violating the DMCA: The Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology was locked out of his Twitter account for an hour, allegedly over a notice received for violation of the US’ Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) 1998. The DMCA notice, related to AR Rahman's song 'Maa Tujhe Salaam', was sent by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) on behalf of Sony Music Entertainment back on May 24, 2021, according to the Lumen database. It was received by Twitter on June 25, 2021, following which the social media platform took action, as per the document. Lumen database is an independent research project studying cease and desist letters concerning online content, and requests received by Twitter for withholding content are published on its site.
- Technical details: Here's more on the DMCA -
- What is the DMCA - The Digital Millennium Copyright Act is a US law and among the world’s first laws recognising Intellectual Property (IP) on the internet. It oversees the implementation of two 1996 treaties signed by World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) member nations.
- Compliance with DMCA - Any content creator of any form, who believes that their original content has been copied by a user or a website without authorisation can file an application citing their intellectual property has been stolen or violated. For social media intermediaries like Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, content creators can directly approach the platform with a proof of them being original creators.
- Obligation of social media firms - Since these firms operate in nations which are signatories to the WIPO treaty, they are obligated to remove the said content if they receive a valid and legal DMCA takedown notice.
- WIPO Treaties: The WIPO members had agreed upon two treaties, namely the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty. India is a member of both the treaties, which require member nations and signatories to provide in their respective jurisdictions, protection to IP that may have been created by citizens of different nations who are also co-signatories to the treaty.
- Protection must not be any less in any way than the one being given to a domestic copyright holder. Ths idea is to encourage global creativity.
- It obligates that signatories to the treaty ensure ways to prevent circumvention of the technical measures used to protect copyrighted work. It also provides the necessary international legal protection to digital content.
- What is IP: Intellectual property is a category of "property" including intangible creations of the human intellect, and primarily encompasses copyrights, patents and trademarks. It includes other rights, like trade secrets, publicity rights, moral rights, and rights against unfair competition. Every year the World Intellectual Property Day is celebrated on 26th April. Other than WIPO treaties, it is also covered under the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS Agreement). The WTO stands on the pillars of the GATT, GATS and TRIPS. India is a member of WTO and hence committed to TRIPS.
- WIPO: The World Intellectual Property Organisation is a specialised agency of the United Nations, created in 1967 to encourage creative activity, to promote the protection of IP throughout the world. With 193 member nations, it is headquartered at Geveva, Switzerland. It administers 26 international treaties, including
- Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure
- Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property
- Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works
- Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks- Madrid Protocol
- Washington Treaty on IP in respect of Integrated Circuits
- Nairobi Treaty on the Protection of the Olympic Symbol
- Marrakesh Treaty to facilitate Access to Published Works by Visually Impaired Persons and Persons with Print Disabilities
From Visually.
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