RemNote
Changelog

Copyrighted PDF Functionality

Take a look here:

https://www.remnote.com/a/Introduction-to-Real-Analysis-Fourth-Edition/64713b60fb50020c0d0ae698

Those are my notes for a shared document with a PDF, one which is copyrighted. The value of sharing such a document with the references to parts of that PDF is obviously large. I would hate it, however, if the hammer came down on the Remnote Team from publishing companies for expensive textbooks — the bigger Remnote as a company gets, the more likely that is to happen. Those Publishing companies are merciless.

If we take a look at Remnote’s terms, we see that there seems be several provisions that are commonly used to help protect platforms from copyright infringement claims, such as:

  • Section 16 (COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENTS) outlines a process for dealing with copyright complaints, which appears to be in line with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). This process allows copyright owners to notify the platform of any infringements and request their removal.

  • Section 24 (INDEMNIFICATION) includes a clause where users agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the platform from any claims arising out of copyright infringements or violations of third party rights.

  • Section 13 (USER GENERATED CONTRIBUTIONS) states that the platform has the right to take down any user contributions that violate these terms, potentially including copyright-infringing content.

  • Section 14 (SITE MANAGEMENT) reserves the right for the platform to manage the site in a way that facilitates the protection of their rights and property, which could include actions against copyright infringement.

However, it's important to note that while these clauses can help protect the platform to some extent, they do not guarantee complete protection against copyright claims. Users might still violate these terms and upload copyrighted content, and the effectiveness of these terms often depends on how rigorously they are enforced. Plus, certain jurisdictions may have different interpretations of these terms.

In the scenario I’m proposing, where the volume of copyright infringement notices is so high that the team can only handle a fraction of them, there are indeed risks to the platform.

If the platform is unable to respond to DMCA takedown requests in a timely manner because of their volume, they could potentially lose their "safe harbor" protection under the DMCA. This could expose the platform to liability for copyright infringement by their users.

In addition, even if the platform is able to respond to each individual notice, they might still face risks if they cannot effectively deal with repeat infringers due to the volume of notices.

There are steps that platforms can take to help manage high volumes of DMCA notices. For example, they might:

  • Implement a more efficient system for processing notices

  • Employ additional staff or outsource the work to a third party that specializes in DMCA compliance

  • Use automated systems to help detect and respond to infringement (what I’m suggesting below, since it is the most scalable option if remnote gets millions of users infringing copyright and thus potentially thousands of DMCA notices)

  • Take steps to discourage infringement, such as stricter upload rules or penalties for users who violate copyright policies

However, all of these solutions involve trade-offs, such as increased costs, potential impacts on user experience, and risks of false positives with automated systems.

In terms of whether this could realistically happen, it's certainly possible. High-profile platforms with large numbers of users have faced challenges managing DMCA notices in the past. The specifics would depend on factors such as the nature of the platform, the behavior of its users, and the attitudes of copyright holders.

The obvious non-technical solution to the problem is to prevent pdf-sharing entirely. Clearly this is not ideal though, because it prevents people from seeing references to parts of the document which would provide context for people who have not seen the notes before. The users should be able to start with notes for a textbook and expand them based upon reading the textbook and viewing the hyperlinks to parts of the textbook from the notes.

Proposal for Enhanced Copyright Protection in RemNote

Feature Description:

  1. PDF Identification and Database Cross-Reference: When a user uploads a PDF to RemNote, the system should identify it using a unique "code" or fingerprinting technique. This code would then be cross-referenced with a maintained database of codes for copyrighted material. If a match is found, the system identifies the document as copyrighted.

  2. Copyrighted Content Protection: If the PDF is flagged as copyrighted, certain protective measures are activated. First, the PDF itself would be locked to other users unless they can provide their own copy of the exact same textbook. Second, any notes linked to the copyrighted PDF (for instance, page references or hyperlinked annotations) would also be locked from view by other users. This way, copyrighted content remains inaccessible unless a user proves ownership of the copyrighted material.

  3. User-Supplied Copyrighted Material Verification: If a user has their own copy of a copyrighted textbook, they can upload this PDF to the platform. The system would then identify the PDF using the same unique code or fingerprinting technique and unlock the associated shared notes if it matches with the originally shared one.

Challenges and Considerations:

  1. Technical Challenges: uniquely identifying a PDF is a substantial challenge. There are ways to fingerprint or hash a document, but they can be inaccurate or easily circumvented. In addition, matching two PDFs (especially if they're not identical, such as different editions or scans of a book) could also be technically difficult.

  2. Legal Challenges: Copyright laws vary significantly between jurisdictions. Even if the platform is following the law in one country, it might still be infringing on copyright in another. Moreover, as you mentioned, even summarizing or rephrasing content from a copyrighted source can potentially be considered infringement.

  3. Cooperation from Publishers: The creation and maintenance of a database of identifiers for copyrighted PDFs would likely require cooperation from publishers and copyright holders. It might be challenging to get this cooperation, as publishers could be reluctant to share this information.

  4. User Experience: The proposed system could impact the user experience. Users might find it cumbersome to upload their own copies of copyrighted materials to unlock notes. This could potentially discourage users from sharing notes and using the platform.

  5. Enforcement: Even with a system like this in place, it would still be important to have effective policies and procedures to handle instances of copyright infringement when they occur.

Given these challenges, it's crucial to have extensive consultations with legal experts, and potentially with publishers and copyright holders as well. The technical aspects would also likely require significant research and development, and potentially the involvement of experts in document identification and matching.

The proposed system has the potential to respect copyright laws while facilitating collaborative learning and note sharing. However, the technical and legal challenges it presents are substantial and must be thoroughly addressed during its design and implementation stages. If not, the platform could risk potential legal complications and compromise the integrity of its shared learning resources.

In summary, most of the valuable notes shared to the community are likely to be notes created from textbooks, but those are copyrighted, thus overriding the majority of the value to be gained from a community note sharing platform. That is why the system above needs to be devised in one form or another.