Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act

Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act
Long title	To amend title 17, United States Code, to implement the World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty and Performances and Phonograms Treaty, and for other purposes, as part of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Acronyms (colloquial)	OCILLA
Nicknames	DMCA 512; Safe Harbor
Enacted by	the 105th United States Congress
Effective	October 28, 1998
Citations
Public law	Pub. L. 105-304
Statutes at Large	112 Stat. 2860 (1998)
Codification
Acts amended	Copyright Act of 1976
Titles amended	17 (Copyrights)
U.S.C. sections created	17 U.S.C. §§ 512
Legislative history
	Introduced in the House of Representatives as H.R. 2281 by Howard Coble (R-NC) on July 29, 1997; Committee consideration by House Judiciary Committee (Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property); House Commerce Committee (Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade, and Consumer Protection); Passed the House on August 4, 1998 (voice vote); Passed the Senate on September 17, 1998 (unanimous consent); Reported by the joint conference committee on October 8, 1998; agreed to by the Senate on October 8, 1998 (unanimous consent) and by the House on October 12, 1998 (voice vote); Signed into law by President Bill Clinton on October 28, 1998;
Major amendments
	None

The Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act (OCILLA) is United States federal law that creates a conditional 'safe harbor' for online service providers (OSP), a group which includes Internet service providers (ISP) and other Internet intermediaries, by shielding them for their own acts of direct copyright infringement (when they make unauthorized copies) as well as shielding them from potential secondary liability for the infringing acts of others. OCILLA was passed as a part of the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and is sometimes referred to as the "Safe Harbor" provision or as "DMCA 512" because it added Section 512 to Title 17 of the United States Code. By exempting Internet intermediaries from copyright infringement liability provided they follow certain rules, OCILLA attempts to strike a balance between the competing interests of copyright owners and digital users.