Shielding internet intermediaries from copyright liability - a comparative discourse on safe harbours in Singapore and India

Abstract

Without intermediaries that provide access to, host and link content, the internet will not be the vibrant place it is today. Yet with the rising number of online copyright infringements, right holders have increasingly shifted their focus to intermediaries in their efforts to curb infringements. This has led to internet intermediaries being increasingly exposed to copyright liability. In light of this, safe harbours that provide certain classes of intermediaries with conditional immunity play an important role in maintaining a healthy balance between the interests of right holders and third parties. In the copyright context, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act 1998 (DMCA) enacted in the United States was the first instance where such a safe harbour was afforded to internet intermediaries. During the two decades of the DMCA's operation, it has been used as a blueprint to shape safe harbours in other jurisdictions. This article focusses on two such jurisdictions—namely, Singapore and India—and provides a comparative and in-depth analysis of the safe harbour frameworks in the said jurisdictions, while mapping out how they compare with the DMCA. In the process, the article highlights a number of features in the DMCA that have been remodelled in Singapore and India.