Google Forum on ACTA

I was fortunate enough to get my question answered at the recent Google forum on ACTA.  I asked:

Will providers still enjoy “safe harbor” protections for materials their users upload? If not, what are potential implications for the “user generated” or “remix” online culture that has emerged?

The answer comes at about the 47 minute mark.

Without knowing much about the makeup of the panel, or whether this was to bring any new transparency to the process, it was a little hard to think of a good question (though I thought this would fit the Google venue pretty well 🙂 ). I should have known that the participants wouldn’t have a great deal of information, and what they could say needed to be stated very carefully.  Still, the response from both sides appeared to be a reassuring “yes.” I see safe harbor as an important protection for service providers, users who wish to assert their fair use, and the general balance of copyright protection.

A quick search on safe harbor provisions in the EU and Japan does seem to check out–their law appears to be much like ours here in the states. I couldn’t find any information on safe harbor in Canada (or lack thereof), but would be happy to check it out if anyone suggests a link.

Safe harbor is an important law–it protects providers from copyright liability and gives users a formal process by which they can claim fair use. Let’s make sure ACTA doesn’t change that.