LatviaAutortiesību likums (Copyright Act), Chapter VIII.1, Online Content-Sharing Service Providers
In force since .
A notice and action rule binding private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Licensing, Disclosure
As of .
What it requires
- Obtain the rights holder's authorization for giving the public access to works your users upload, or be able to prove the conditions that avoid liability: utmost efforts to obtain authorization, utmost efforts to keep unavailable the works for which rights holders gave you relevant and necessary information, and prompt action on a substantiated notice, with utmost efforts to prevent re-upload.
- If your service has been available in the European Union for under three years and your annual turnover is under EUR 10 million, show only utmost efforts to obtain authorization and prompt action on a substantiated notice; once your average monthly unique visitors exceed five million, also show utmost efforts to prevent re-upload of works for which rights holders gave you the information.
- Do not deny access to user uploads whose use does not infringe copyright, and tell users in your terms of service about their options to use works under the limitations on rights.
- Handle users' complaints about disabled access or removal at once and free of charge, tell the rights holder involved, let the parties give reasons, and have a person review each decision to disable access or remove a work.
- On a rights holder's request, give information about your cooperation measures and tools and about the use of works covered by licences.
What this law does
Article 56.1(1) of the Copyright Act defines an online content-sharing service provider as an information society service provider whose main purpose, or one of whose main purposes, is to store and give the public access to a large number of works or related-rights subject matter uploaded by its users, which it organizes and promotes for profit. Article 56.2(1) requires the provider to obtain the rights holder's authorization for giving the public access to a work uploaded by a user.
Article 56.2(3) makes the provider liable for infringement without authorization unless it proves it made its utmost efforts to obtain authorization, made its utmost efforts to keep unavailable works for which rights holders supplied relevant and necessary information, and acted at once on a substantiated notice to disable access or remove the work and prevent re-upload.
Article 56.2(5) bars the provider from denying access to user uploads whose use does not infringe copyright, including works used under the limitations on economic rights. Article 56.2(7) states that the rules of the article create no general monitoring duty for the provider.
Article 56.3 lets a new provider that has been available in the European Union for under three years with annual turnover under EUR 10 million show only its utmost efforts to obtain authorization and prompt action on a substantiated notice, and adds the duty to prevent re-upload once its average monthly unique visitors exceed five million.
Article 56.4 requires the provider to set an effective and quick procedure to handle users' complaints about disabled access or removal at once and free of charge, with a person reviewing the decision to disable access or remove a work. Article 56.5 requires the provider to give rights holders on request information about its cooperation measures and about the use of works under licences, and to tell users in its terms of service about their options to use works under the limitations on rights.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app operates a social platform.