Deterring Extraterritorial Foreign Exploitation of Networks Damaging Intellectual Property (DEFEND IP) Act of 2026

This bill amends copyright law to allow copyright owners or exclusive licensees to petition a U.S. district court to designate a foreign online location as a "foreign digital piracy site" and then obtain court orders directing certain service providers to block U.S. users from accessing that site.

Sec. 2, Orders to designate and direct against foreign digital piracy sites: This section adds a new section 502A to copyright law. It defines key terms: a "foreign digital piracy site" is a foreign online location designated by court order; a "service provider" includes broadband providers with at least 50,000 subscribers and public domain name resolution services with over $100 million annual revenue (excluding encrypted DNS-only providers, VPNs, and premises operators like coffee shops). The owner or exclusive licensee of a copyright that is or will be injured by infringing material or a live event transmission may petition a court to designate a foreign online location as a foreign digital piracy site. The court must issue the order if it finds the petitioner owns the right, the material likely infringes or a live event transmission will likely infringe and cause irreparable harm, the petitioner made reasonable efforts to notify the site operator, and the operator cannot be located in the U.S. The site operator may contest within 20 days, but the court may issue an ex parte order if requirements are met. The court cannot designate the site if the operator appears, submits to jurisdiction, posts a bond, and complies with cease orders. Designation orders expire after 360 days unless a subsequent order is sought. After designation, the petitioner may petition the same court for an order directing service providers to take reasonable measures to prevent U.S. users from accessing the site. The court considers burden on the provider, harm to petitioner, technical feasibility, interference with non-infringing material, public interest, and less burdensome alternatives. Service providers may contest inclusion within 20 days. Orders must specify implementation as soon as practicable, expire after 1 year (extendable), require petitioner to verify site information, and state providers have no independent duty to investigate. The court cannot prescribe specific technical measures. Service providers must take reasonable measures to block access but may temporarily suspend compliance for maintenance or security. Providers are immune from liability for good-faith actions or reliance on order information, and for injury alleged by the designated site. Courts may review compliance but cannot find failure based on lack of affirmative investigation. Operators of other sites accidentally blocked may move to modify the order. Courts may amend orders if the site moves to a new domain or IP address. Courts must notify the Register of Copyrights, who will publish orders on the Copyright Office website. The section does not affect other laws, including section 512 safe harbors or secondary liability principles. The new section takes effect 180 days after enactment. The bill also makes conforming amendments to section 502 of title 17 to allow injunctions and orders against foreign digital piracy sites, and updates the table of sections.