H.R. 791 — Foreign Anti-Digital Piracy Act

This section establishes a new section 502A of the Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. ch. 5) authorizing a covered person (i.e., a copyright owner or exclusive licensee) to petition a U.S. district court for a preliminary order declaring that a specified foreign website or online service is transmitting, or imminently transmitting, a protected work in infringement of the owner's exclusive rights under section 106 and causing irreparable harm. The court must issue the order if the petitioner provides the site's internet protocol address, domain name, or similar identifier; attempted service on the site's operator and notified relevant U.S. service providers; certifies the operator is likely foreign based on public information; attests under penalty of perjury to the site's primary purpose of copyright infringement (or no other commercially significant use, or intentional marketing for infringement); and the infringement has not fully ceased without likelihood of resumption. (1) The site's operator may contest the order within 30 days of petition filing; (2) if uncontested, the court may appoint a master under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 53 to verify criteria using public information without delaying proceedings; and (3) the court decides within 14 days after any opposition and reply (or sooner if the opposition period expires), or on an expedited or ex parte basis for imminent or ongoing live event transmissions.