DEFEND IP Act

This bill amends U.S. copyright law to allow copyright owners or exclusive licensees to petition a federal court to designate a foreign online location as a foreign digital piracy site and to order certain service providers to block U.S. user access to 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, including "foreign digital piracy site" (a foreign online location designated by court order), "broadband provider" (a provider with at least 50,000 subscribers), and "service provider" (a broadband provider or a public domain name resolution service with over $100 million annual revenue, excluding certain encrypted DNS, VPN, and premises operators). A copyright owner or exclusive licensee may petition a district court to designate a foreign online location as a foreign digital piracy site if the court finds that the site likely violates the petitioner's copyright and causes irreparable harm, and that the site is primarily designed for infringement, has no significant non-infringing use, or is marketed to promote infringement. The operator may contest within 20 days, but the court may issue an ex parte order if requirements are met. The designation order expires after 360 days unless a subsequent order is sought. After designation, the petitioner may petition the same court to order service providers to take reasonable measures to prevent U.S. users from accessing the site. The court considers factors like burden on the provider, harm to the petitioner, technical feasibility, and public interest. Service providers may contest inclusion within 20 days. The order must specify that implementation begins as soon as practicable, expires after 1 year (extendable), and requires the petitioner to verify site information. The order cannot prescribe specific technical measures. Service providers are immune from liability for good-faith actions taken to comply, and for injuries alleged by the designated site. The court may review compliance and modify orders if a different online location is blocked. The court must notify the Register of Copyrights, who makes orders publicly available. The section takes effect 180 days after enactment. The bill also makes conforming amendments to section 502 of title 17 to include orders alongside injunctions, and technical amendments to the table of sections.