Source: El Financiero

By a majority vote, the Plenary of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN), declared valid the amendments to the Federal Copyright Law that empower online service providers to unilaterally remove, disable or suspend content found in their systems, when such content may constitute violations to copyrights, contractual obligations or other applicable legal provisions. In addition, they must take “reasonable measures” to prevent the same material from being uploaded again.

The above, in relation to the rule in force since the reform of the Federal Copyright Law in 2020, which sought to protect copyrights and adjust the national law to the Treaty between Mexico, the United States and Canada (T-MEC).

The project, proposed by Minister Javier Laynez, was approved with six votes in favor and five against. The ministers who voted in favor, argued that this measure does not violate freedom of expression, legal certainty, or due process; adding that those who are affected by the removal of the content will have the legal capacity to demonstrate that they are not violating the copyright of another person.

Subsequently, the SCJN mentioned that these reforms are a necessary measure to protect copyright and specified that to resolve evidentiary disputes a judicial or administrative procedure or a dispute resolution mechanism will be required.

On the other hand, Alianza de Medios Mx and Article 19, ruled after the Court validated that Internet providers can remove content with the notice of copyright holders, pointing out that this mechanism is a measure to censor and silence journalists and media outlets. They also argued that this mechanism can be used by “bad faith” actors who do not need to prove the violation of a copyright for this content to be taken down.

In spite of the six votes that endorsed the reforms, the Court requires one or two more for the validity to be official and, since Ministers Loretta Ortiz and Margarita Ríos were not present at the time of the vote, the presiding Minister, Norma Piña, decided to wait to contemplate their votes and make the official statement.