Music labels can press Vimeo on copyright claims — judge denies “safe harbor”

The long-running fight over who is responsible for removing copyrighted content on video sites took a new twist as a New York federal judge refused to throw out a case against Vimeo, a popular site that lets users share clips. In the ruling, US District Judge Ronnie Abrams held that so-called “safe harbor” laws — which can help Internet sites avoid liability for the actions of their uses — may not shield Vimeo since its employees may have known that users were uploading infringing works. In order to preserve their safe harbors, sites must also show that they respond to takedown requests of infringing content and that they don’t “control” the content that appears.