Friday, April 9, 2021 Twenty-three years after the passage of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”), the social media landscape remains a “Wild Wild West” for copyright owners. Though not afforded the attention attracted by the spread of misinformation on these platforms, copyright enforcement can be an uphill battle for copyright owners, as social media companies struggle to enforce rules of conduct for the enormous output of third-party content they host. Copyrights on Social Media The DMCA is intended to encourage the growth of the web and the free speech hosted by so-called “Internet Service Providers” (ISPs) who do not create but merely publish, content created by third parties. At the same time, the law provides a roadmap for copyright owners to enforce their rights. Under the DMCA, once a copyright owner provides notice of infringement (a “takedown notice”) to a so-called “DMCA agent” (an employee of the ISP), the ISP is required to take down the content. The creator or poster of the content has a right of “counternotification,” which, if exercised within ten days, will obligate the ISP to re-post the content unless the copyright owner sues within this ten-day period.