In 1998, Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which amended U.S. copyright law (The Copyright Act of 1976) to address important parts of the relationship between copyright and the internet. The three main updates to copyright law were:

• establishing protections for online service providers in certain situations if their users engage in copyright infringement, including by creating the notice-and-takedown system, which allows copyright owners to inform online service providers about infringing material so it can be taken down;

• encouraging copyright owners to give greater access to their works in digital formats by providing them with legal protections against unauthorized access to their works (for example, hacking passwords or circumventing encryption); and

• making it unlawful to provide false copyright management information (for example, names of authors and copyright owners, titles of works) or to remove or alter that type of information in certain circumstances.

The DMCA is in the United States Code (federal statutes) at 17 U.S.C. §§512, 1201-1205, 1301-1332; and 28 U.S.C. §4001.

In Alabama, as in all states, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998 is a federal statute that applies uniformly across the country. The DMCA provides a legal framework that balances the interests of copyright owners, online service providers, and users of copyrighted material on the internet. It offers safe harbor protections to online service providers, such as internet service providers and website hosts, if they comply with the notice-and-takedown system. This system requires service providers to remove or disable access to infringing material when notified by copyright owners. The DMCA also strengthens the legal protections for copyright owners against unauthorized access and circumvention of technological measures that protect their works, such as encryption and password locks. Additionally, the act prohibits the provision or alteration of false copyright management information. These provisions are designed to facilitate the lawful use and distribution of digital content while protecting the rights of copyright holders. As federal law, the DMCA preempts state law in cases of conflict and is codified in Title 17 and Title 28 of the United States Code.