Copyright Fraud in the Internet Age: Copyright Management Information for Non-Digital Works under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
Abstract
With the advent of the digital age, authors of creative works enjoy the benefits of quickly and inexpensively distributing their works to immense global audiences. These developments have unfortunately led to the negative consequence that pirated, unauthorized, or altered copies reach potential users before the creator of the work releases the authentic version according to his or her terms. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 sought to address some of these concerns by punishing circumventions of technologies controlling access to copyrighted works (in Section 1201) and protecting “copyright management information,” i.e. identifying data regarding the author and terms of use of a copyrighted work (in Section 1202).
While scholars have commented extensively on Section 1201, little scholarship exists on Section 1202, and this article addresses that gap. This article discusses a federal-court split regarding the scope of application of Section 1202 and demonstrates that the legislative history and the plain-language of the statute call for broad application to digital and non-digital works. The author then looks at Section 1202 in the context of Internet fraud and argues that the Section functions as a consumer fraud statute and offers protections for the provision of accurate information and authentic works that can well serve copyright owners and consumers.