Plaintiffs, rightsholders of musical recordings affiliated with EMI, sued Vimeo, Inc. and Connected Ventures, LLC for copyright infringement, alleging that Vimeo users uploaded videos containing their copyrighted music without authorization. Vimeo claimed protection under the safe harbor provision of Section 512(c) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which shields service providers from liability for user-uploaded infringing content under certain conditions.

The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted summary judgment in favor of Vimeo, finding that Vimeo was entitled to the DMCA safe harbor. The court concluded that Vimeo did not have actual or red flag knowledge of the infringing content and did not have the right and ability to control the infringing activity in a manner that would disqualify it from the safe harbor.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reviewed the case. The court held that Vimeo employees did not have red flag knowledge of the infringing content because it was not obvious to an ordinary person without specialized knowledge of music or copyright law that the videos were infringing. The court also found that Vimeo did not exercise substantial influence over user activities to the extent required to lose the safe harbor protection. The court noted that Vimeo’s actions, such as promoting certain videos and banning specific types of content, did not amount to the level of control that would disqualify it from the safe harbor.

The Second Circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment, holding that Vimeo was entitled to the DMCA safe harbor and dismissing Plaintiffs’ claims of copyright infringement. View “Capitol Records v. Vimeo” on Justia Law