Hello Lets say that while browsing Youtube, I found a video that someone posted. This video is a full episode of The Simpsons. I embed this video on my website. Now the owners of The Simpsons sent me a DMCA, telling me to remove the video. Do I have to comply with their DMCA? Rather, shouldn't they be telling Youtube to remove the video instead? Obviously whoever uploaded it had no right, and this will automatically make the video I embedded stop working. I don't charge people to view video on my website, I only make money from small cpm ads, and I live in Canada. I believe our copyright laws are more lax.
The answer is...YEEEEEES!! It's your website, that's why they contacted you. You shouldn't be concerned with what they are or aren't doing with YouTube. Cover your ass bro.
A DMCA notice is a courtesy, since you have presumably not designated a DMCA agent with the US Copyright Office, and since they can just instantly sue a Canadian even if you did designate an agent, since Canadian courts aren't subject to the DMCA safe harbor provisions. From Canada's Copyright Act: You should have read the Copyright Act before you embedded infringing content on your site. By embedding it, you have distributed the work to such an extent as to affect prejudicially the owner of the copyright. You have also distributed or exhibited in public by way of trade (the trade being those CPM ads). If you didn't operate that website, there would be one less method for people to view the infringing material, regardless of who is actually hosting it. This is not legal advice, but just an opinion. If you want to be prudent, you should go speak to a lawyer in your jurisdiction who has knowledge of Canada's copyright laws.
If you ever run a site/forum and think you will get copyright stuff on your site, then this is the best investment you can ever make for your website. You can pay $100 now or possible $1000's later in legal fees. http://www.copyright.gov/onlinesp/ By having this copyright protection. Before you can be sued, you have to be given a DMCA and ample amount of time to remove the copyright content in question. Without the protection of the US Copyright, then you can be sued without any type of notice, and no one has to notify you of any DMCA..... and remember, even the website owner can be held liable for those that post illegal content on his/her forum. Just because you say "I didnt know" is not going to get you out of possible $1000's in legal fees alone.... as the old saying goes and is still applied today: You can be sued for anything, and any reason... Do not run a website/forum without this copyright protection....
At the end of the day, you don't have to comply with the DMCA, most adult entertainment websites, and "warez" websites don't comply with them so they are hosted on an offshore server, which if you want to try to ignore DMCA would be the best way to go. If you are only embedding it and not allowing users to download it, there's nothing they can do. ~ Slutz ~