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WHY COPYRIGHT LAW MATTERS ON THE INTERNET
At The Verge, we strongly believe that copyright law is the only real law on the internet. It is the only speech regulation that most people on most online platforms will accept, at least in the United States. This is because copyright infringement can land users and platforms in serious legal trouble.
UNDERSTANDING THE DMCA AND USER BEHAVIOR
Most mainstream platforms take copyright infringement seriously and have mechanisms in place to remove infringing content if notified. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) protects these platforms from liability if they promptly remove infringing content upon request. This has influenced user behavior on platforms for over a decade; people understand that they cannot post copyrighted content without permission.
ELON MUSK’S IGNORANCE OF COPYRIGHT LAW
Despite this, Elon Musk appears to be ignorant of copyright law. He has allowed a copy of The Super Mario Bros. Movie to remain on Twitter since April 28th, which has already amassed 9.3 million views. Musk also fired the vast majority of Twitter’s trust and safety and compliance teams. He has simultaneously increased the length of videos users can post to Twitter, making it even easier for infringing content to be shared on his platform.
FINDING FULL-LENGTH MOVIES ON TWITTER
Links to full-length movies are easy to find on Twitter. For example, you can find Avatar: The Way of Water by searching for it. We speculate that the previous administration at Twitter did not enable 60-minute uploads to discourage users from sharing full-length copyrighted content on the platform.
IN CONCLUSION:
Copyright law is critical to all internet users and platforms, particularly in the United States. The DMCA provides safe harbor for platforms, which incentivizes them to promptly remove infringing content. Ignoring copyright law can have serious legal consequences, as Elon Musk has demonstrated. If you are looking for full-length movies, we advise you to stay away from Twitter and other mainstream platforms, as they prioritize copyright law enforcement.
