Liability of marketplaces for intellectual property rights infringement: the experience of the US and China

This study addresses the issues involved in holding information intermediaries accountable for infringement of intellectual property rights. The growing significance of online commerce and the necessity to protect intellectual property rights in a digital environment makes this research especially relevant. This study aims to identify the various approaches to holding intermediaries accountable and assess the effectiveness of existing legal regulations in the United States and China. The findings indicate significant differences in the approaches to this issue in the legal systems studied. For instance, in the United States, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act imposes fewer obligations on intermediaries to monitor user-generated content. This approach provides broad protection to platforms and encourages innovation, but leaves certain gaps in the protection of intellectual property rights. Conversely, China’s E-commerce Law places more responsibilities on platforms to prevent violations, offering them less protection. The conclusions drawn may contribute to the improvement of legal regulation concerning the activities of information intermediaries, the enhancement of enforcement mechanisms, and the development of strategies to combat intellectual property rights infringement.