Copyright Frequently Asked Questions

The DMCA was passed in 1998 by the U.S. Congress to protect copyrighted works in the digital age while providing important protections for online service providers to ensure the free flow of information. Additional information about the DMCA is available at the U. S. Copyright office's website at https://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf. Information about how to submit a takedown notice to Verizon’s DMCA designated agent and Verizon’s DMCA Repeat Infringer Policy is available at verizon.com/copyrightclaims.

The Verizon Anti-Piracy Cooperation Program involves sending notices by email to our subscribers relating to claims of alleged copyright infringement from copyright owners. The program is designed to alert you to potential infringing activity involving your account.

Yes. As part of Verizon’s implementation of its repeat infringer policy, copyright owners may complete an online conduit notice form (pdf). Upon the accurate completion of the necessary fields, Verizon will forward a notice to the identified subscriber containing the details of the copyright owner’s allegation, including warnings about the potential consequences of continued alleged infringing activity. Both options are available for copyright owners to use to enforce their copyright interests. We urge copyright owners to use the appropriate available process to address their concerns and appreciate their cooperation.

When a copyright owner identifies an instance of possible infringement, it sends the user's Internet Service Provider (ISP) a notice that contains the name of the copyrighted work, the date and time of the alleged infringement and the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the computer that is alleged to be sharing copyrighted material. The ISP matches the IP address sent by the copyright owner to the specific subscriber to whom that IP address was assigned at that time, and then sends the information provided by the copyright owner to that user without identifying the user to the copyright owner.

The copyright owner does not know the actual identity of the user assigned to the IP address associated with activity that the copyright owner believes may constitute copyright infringement. While Verizon knows the subscriber assigned to a particular IP address, we do not share that information with the copyright owner. We will only provide your identity under the program if we receive a legal demand (such as a subpoena or court order) to do so.

If you receive a notice, we recommend that you confirm that the copyrighted material referred to in the notice is on any computer or other device with access to your Internet service and check to see if your computer or other device has any peer-to-peer (P2P) or file sharing software on it. You should also discuss the notice with others who have access to your Internet service. If you have a wireless router, please secure your home network.

You may view your notice online by logging onto My Verizon with your Verizon User ID and password to access your Alleged Copyright Violation Notifications history.

Yes, it can be. Aside from the legal liability for unlawful infringement described above, the use of P2P software can expose your computer and other devices to harmful viruses, spyware and other malware that can compromise your privacy. This can happen by using P2P and file-sharing software and downloading files you may think are music or video files but are really malware that can secretly steal your passwords, personal information, or bank account or credit card numbers.