AT&T Copyright Alert Program: Copyright Policies & Legal Content Access

AT&T provides a mechanism for owners of copyrighted content (e.g. music, movies, videos, books, artwork, and images) to notify AT&T if they believe that a customer is using AT&T’s transitory digital network communications service (i.e. Internet Service) to share copyrighted content without their permission. Under this program, copyright owners may send AT&T a notice of alleged copyright infringement identifying the IP Address of the user that allegedly engaged in copyright infringement, the title of the copyrighted work at issue, and the date and time of the alleged infringement. AT&T then passes along the notice at the request of the copyright owner to the appropriate Internet Service account holder to alert them about the potentially infringing activity so that they may take steps to prevent copyright infringement on their account. 

If AT&T receives additional notices for a particular subscriber account, the Copyright Alerts will escalate, and we may temporarily redirect your Internet access to a webpage where the accountholder must view an educational tutorial on the importance of copyright and the lawful use of content available over the Internet. Upon completion of this educational tutorial, your Internet service will be restored to normal. If we continue to receive additional copyright infringement notices after this step, your AT&T Internet service may be terminated pursuant with AT&T’s Repeat Infringer Policy. A subscriber’s receipt of multiple Copyright Alerts will be a factor used by AT&T in determining whether to terminate their service under the AT&T’s Repeat Infringer Policy. 

Copyright infringement is illegal and violates the AT&T Internet Terms of Service  and Acceptable Use Policy. Subscribers should not engage in copyright infringement and should ensure that others using their internet account do the same. Importantly, if the subscriber’s home network is not protected or secured by a password or firewall, and unauthorized users are accessing the subscriber’s network, they may be the source of the problem.

We don’t monitor what our customers are downloading, and we won’t provide identifying information about a subscriber to copyright owners unless required to do so by lawful request.

The DMCA was passed in 1998 by the U.S. Congress to protect copyrighted works in the digital age while providing important protections for online service providers to ensure the free flow of information. Additional information about the DMCA is available at the U.S. Copyright Office’s website at copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf.