What is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act or DMCA?
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Digital Millennium Copyright Act or DMCA is a 1998 law passed in the US and is among the world’s first laws recognising intellectual property on the internet.
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Purpose: The law oversees the implementation of the two treaties signed and agreed upon by member nations of the World Intellectual Property Organisation(WIPO) in 1996.
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In 1996, WIPO member countries agreed upon two treaties namely:
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WIPO Copyright Treaty and
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WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty.
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Both the treaties require member nations and signatories to provide in their respective jurisdictions, protection to intellectual property that may have been created by citizens of different nations who are also co-signatories to the treaty.
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The said protection accorded by each member state must not be any less in any way than the one being given to a domestic copyright holder.
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Further, the signatory countries should 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.
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Why in News? 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 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).