On Twitter, the question for copyright holders is not how to enforce their rights under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), but whether to enforce them. Specifically, on Twitter, copyright holders can report any violations under the DMCA, and penalties for violations range from having the content removed to a permanent ban from Twitter. With having a presence on social media only becoming increasingly important for copyright holders, it has proven critical for these holders to strike a balance between protecting their rights and giving some leeway to users. Often, allowing users to have the latitude to use copyrighted material only promotes the holder’s product, either directly or indirectly. Accordingly, some copyright holders have decided that it’s sometimes better to “join them” rather than to “beat them,” as it relates to users who technically violate DMCA rules. A strong example of this question was Leslie Jones allegedly having some of her posts taken down during the 2022 Winter Olympics.
This post was originally published on the Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal website on February 28, 2022. The original post can be accessed via the Archived Link button above
