Online criminals target the publishing industry in a number of ways.  The spectrum of offenses includes websites offering infringing copies of works to download, peer-to-peer file sharing of infringing copies, as well as the commercial sale of counterfeit copies of publications.


The industry has growing expertise in tackling each type of threat in an appropriate and effective manner, often by working with commercial partners.  The Publishers Association has launched the Copyright Infringement Portal—a service developed by and for the industry.  It offers an array of benefits to publishers and Trade Associations.  


The following describes just some of the benefits of using the Copyright Infringement Portal:


• It offers an easy and efficient way to generate take-down notices.  Rather than each publisher correctly identifying the relevant Internet service provider, drafting an appropriate legal notice, and issuing this to the correct address, the portal does each of these steps automatically.
• It offers an easy and efficient way to monitor responses to take-down notices.  A quick glance will let you know whether the take-down has been achieved.  A user-friendly ‘traffic light’ system of green, amber, and red icons is used throughout the portal.
• The portal provides industry-wide benefits by sharing information about infringements, take-down requests, and responses.  It also offers real-time intelligence to its users, which can enable a very rapid industry-wide response to piracy.  The portal collates intelligence information to inform an array of industry responses including licencing, litigation, and lobbying.

   

The portal currently issues take-down notices for both copyrights and territorial rights.  The Publishers Association (PA) aims to develop the portal to extend its ability to issue notices related to peer-to-peer file sharing.  The PA is also investigating, with a variety of service providers, potential ways of offering an automated detection service to publishers who use the Copyright Infringement Portal.


To use the portal, publishers need to register at www.copyrightinfringementportal.com. The cost to use the portal depends on the publisher’s annual turnover and its affiliation to participating Trade Associations.  List prices are:


The licence fee is for a single user, and additional user licences are available at £495 + VAT per annum.


Members of the PA are entitled to use the Copyright Infringement Portal at no cost.  Other Trade Associations are negotiating discounted pricing arrangements for their members.  For example, members of the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers are entitled to a 50% discount on the list prices.


To register, ALPSP members should go to www.alpsp.copyrightinfringementportal.com and other publishers should navigate to www.copyrightinfringementportal.com


Regarding turnover, see http://www.publishers.org.uk/en/home/membership-2/definition-of-turnover....