Q: Concerned about default judgment in Virginia DMCA case without personal identification details.
I am involved in a civil DMCA-related case in Virginia, where I have been notified via email. I am not American and intend not to appear, resulting in a default judgment. The other party lacks any physical address or identification details for me. Given this situation, how long should I be concerned about the judgment affecting me, and how likely is it to challenge or dismiss this collection by claiming it is not me?
A: It would be useful to know a bit more about the case. For now, let me assume that you are accused of reproducing copyright material, and that the DMCA judgment will order you to take it down. As you mentioned, if they lack identification details or an address for you, enforcing the judgment may be difficult. However if the website where the content is hosted has a link to the USA, then they may be able to enforce the judgment indirectly that way. For example, even if your website is hosted overseas, perhaps the domain registrar is USA-based. To be fully insulated from DMCA claims, it is necessary to ensure that none of the intermediaries involved in hosting your content are susceptible to a DMCA judgment. As I do specialize in this area, I would be happy to provide more personalized advice with a few more details about your situtation.
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