Protecting Copyrighted Works

The internet empowers billions of people to create and interact with more content than ever before through a variety of platforms and services. Internet Association members are creators who produce, distribute, and stream original and licensed content, making the internet a popular medium for watching videos and listening to music.1 As creators, IA members understand the value of content and maintain robust copyright policies, taking action when they become aware of alleged infringement. IA members rely on a balanced, innovation-oriented legal regime including the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and “fair use” to vigorously protect and facilitate the development of copyrighted works.

IA members support copyright policies and practices that protect individuals, rightsholders, and intermediaries, in several ways, including by:

Publishing clear policies designed to protect copyrighted works on their platforms.
Dedicating significant resources to address reports of alleged copyright infringement.
Engaging in licensing agreements to offer customers legal ways to access copyrighted content.
Promoting legal online content in search results and demoting infringing content.
Developing tools to identify infringing content, including music, photos, and video.
Creating training programs to facilitate law enforcement investigation of infringement.
Collaborating with other platforms and stakeholders to discuss emerging techniques used to investigate copyright infringement.
Managing hundreds of thousands of rights owner reports of alleged intellectual property infringement every month, including counterfeited physical goods, through online verification programs.
Partnering with the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center.