This is a thread from Rahaeli@Twitter, co-founder of Dreamwidth, advising Mastodon instance admins about their liabilities for copyright and CSAM reporting as service hosters.
I asked permission to repost it here, so every post in the thread below is Rahaeli's, not mine.
reporting requirements as a website operator
Hey, US folks newly running Mastodon instances: do Future You a *huge* favor, mitigate your potential liability, and register with the copyright office and designate an agent to receive DMCA reports *right now*. https://copyright.gov/dmca-directory/
reporting requirements as a website operator
I also strongly recommend that if you run an instance, incorporate as a LLC and -- this is the critical part -- take out an umbrella liability insurance policy with coverage of at least $2m per incident and covers attorney costs and fees.
(If you have homeowners or renters insurance, and you should, this should be a very cheap rider on the policy. 99% of the time it will be unnecessary and the other 1% it will save your ass completely.)
reporting requirements as a website operator
I am somehow not surprised that only two Mastodon instances have registered designated agents and one of them is the Lawprofs instance.
Also: you absolutely should also pre-register with NCMEC, because "I found someone on my instance posting CSAM" is not the time to have to learn the reporting process
reporting requirements as a website operator
If you're on Mastodon and you know your instance admin, point them here. (Mastodon not warning instance admins that they have legal obligations in running a platform is one of the many problems I have with the project, sigh.)
reporting requirements as a website operator
I will be working on a detailed post for "stuff Mastodon instance admins need to know" in the next few days, because the more I think about it, the more I realize y'all probably don't know you should be doing to cover your asses
*don't know all you should be doing
reporting requirements as a website operator
oh man I need to introduce you all to Rozkom, too. the ritual response when you hear anyone mention Rozkom: *fuck* Rozkom.
reporting requirements as a website operator
Oof, Mike reminded me of this dating bug with the copyright office registration, too:
reporting requirements as a website operator
reporting requirements as a website operator
"Also, don't renew your DMCA agent status immediately when the @CopyrightOffice@twitter.com sends you the reminder email 3 months before the end of the period you've paid up for... because they just lop off those last 3 months and start the clock again from your renewal date. But do renew."
reporting requirements as a website operator
The relevant section of copyright law is 17 USC §512 and you can read it here: https://law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/512 You are protected from liability for your users' copyright violations, but ONLY if you follow this process, and the process includes registering a designated agent.
I can't give you legal advice and none of this is intended as such, but if you're absolutely at sea and have never heard of any of this before, I can try to answer general questions.