DMCA Information & Overview

DMCA Overview

What is the DMCA?

"DMCA" stands for the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

The DMCA provides copyright owners with a process for notifying service providers that store or host customer content of alleged copyright infringements by their users. In most cases, these service providers are required to act on valid notifications and to terminate (if necessary) subscribers and account holders who are repeat copyright infringers. Copyright infringement takes a variety of forms but frequently consists of the unauthorized copying or sharing of files containing music, movies, television shows, or games.

What is the CBPU’s DMCA Repeat Infringer Policy?

We place accounts of customers for whom we receive multiple DMCA notifications of alleged infringement into a multi-step DMCA Repeat Infringer Policy. Upon receipt of repeated DMCA notifications, the customer account will advance from one policy step to the next.

Actions that we may take under the DMCA Repeat Infringer Policy include adding alerts of increased visibility to the customer's account, or sending a notification letter to the customer's home address. In order to acknowledge these alerts, we may require the customer to reach out to our CBPU Customer Service Department. We also reserve the right to suspend or terminate the Internet service of any customer for whom we have received multiple DMCA notifications of alleged infringement after multiple warnings.

Who is a Repeat Infringer under your policy?

Any infringement of third party copyright rights violates the law, see full DMCA document HERE. We reserve the right to move a customer account to the next step of the policy upon receiving any number of DMCA notifications from content owners in a given month, or upon learning that the account holder is a repeat infringer.

How will I be notified about the DMCA Repeat Infringer Policy?

Residents will receive a letter to their home address or a call from a CBPU Customer Service Representative.

Does your DMCA Policy respect my privacy?

Yes. As your reliable telecom provider, we typically receive notifications of alleged infringement from content owners, including a non-personally identifying set of numbers (known as an Internet protocol or IP address). This IP address is visible to third parties on the Internet and is associated with activity that the copyright owner alleges is infringing. If we are able to match the IP address on the date and time listed in the content owner's notification with our records, then we may generate a DMCA notification to the customer whose account was assigned that IP address. We do not disclose any information about your identity to content owners under the DMCA (unless a valid court order requires us or one of our affiliates to do so).

Can my CBPU service be impacted by the DMCA Repeat Infringer Policy?

Yes. After receiving multiple warnings, services are subject to termination if the customer continues to infringe on the DMCA policy. Any questions regarding terminated service can be directed to Help Desk Support by phone at 517-279-9531 or email at [email protected]