Internet Service Provider And Second Liability

When Internet Service Providers (ISP) provide convenient and swift internet connection, they also provide the convenience for copyright infringement. So they are always accused by copyright owners. However, ISP is not the direct infringer;the law system of our country can't support to impute ISP. But in the America, the researches on internet-infringement have more than ten years history and get a great achievement, especially the indirect infringement. Vicarious Infringement Liability and Contributory Infringement Liability are two kinds of indirect infringement, which are with direct infringement composed the three liabilities of Copyright Law. Indirect infringement, which was exist in copyright law from early day, however is applied in the copyright infringement on the web and developed very quickly in the digital day. Digital Millennium Copyright Act in 1998 does not change the indirect liability but renew it. DMCA requires the courts firstly address the eligibility of safe harbor, if the ISP failed to safe harbor, and then can address the direct infringement, vicarious infringement liability or contributory infringement liability. This article uses two parts to analyze the two kinds of indirect liability. The first part is about contributory infringement liability. The knowledge requirement is mainly introduced. After analyzing the substantial non-infringing uses and the relation between safe harbor notice with contributory infringement knowledge, the conclusion is substantial non-Infringing uses is not the only and all, it can just used in some certain products, and safe harbor notice with contributory infringement knowledge can't be conflated. The second part is about the history of vicarious infringement liability. Firstly, the vicarious infringement liability was formulated in Shapiro test, then made a change of direct benefit in the flea market, and then the actual control test is a little change, and the last formed the two steps in testing. The value of indirect infringement is to make ISP to make an eye in internet business and create an safe environment for both ISP and copyright owners. There isn't indirect infringement in our law system;the con-infringement can't replace the indirect infringement. But in the practice, courts have used the similar theory in the case., So to establish theindirect infringement is the most important thing. At the last of this article, I put forward my opinion to establish the indirect infringement in our law system.