This analysis explores the divergent paths of digital copyright enforcement in the United States and the Russian Federation. While both nations grapple with the challenges of protecting intellectual property (IP) online, their foundational philosophies and legislative mechanisms reveal starkly different priorities. The U.S. model, embodied by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), prioritizes a balance between copyright protection and fostering platform innovation, creating "safe harbors" for intermediaries (Gillespie, 2018). In contrast, Russia's approach, particularly with the evolution of the "RuNet," increasingly uses IP enforcement as a tool for state control, blurring the lines between anti-piracy efforts and political censorship (Engström, 2019). This interactive report allows you to explore these foundational principles, legislative details, and a direct visual comparison of their enforcement models.

The U.S. and Russian approaches to digital copyright reveal a fundamental ideological split. The United States' DMCA, while criticized for its flaws (e.g., "notice-and-staydown" debates, chilling effects of false takedowns), remains rooted in a philosophy of limited liability to spur economic and platform innovation (Gillespie, 2018). Its primary function is a dispute resolution mechanism between private actors.

In contrast, Russia's "sovereign internet" model co-opts the language of intellectual property to serve the state's strategic goal of information control. The "anti-piracy" framework provides a powerful and legally justifiable pretext for widespread censorship, compelling intermediaries to act as deputies of the state (Engström, 2019). As these two models continue to evolve, they present competing visions for the future of internet governance: one based on market-driven platform power, and the other on state-centric sovereignty.