The Fourth Circuit recently held that electronic signatures are permissible for copyright transfers, in its July 19, 2013 decision in Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc. v. American Home Realty Network Inc. This decision clarifies that the E-Sign Act, which mandates that no signature be denied legal effect simply because it is in electronic form, applies to copyright transfers, which require a signed writing to be valid.
The E-Sign Act defines an "electronic signature" as "an electronic sound, symbol, or process, attached to or logically associated with a contract or other record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the record." 15 U.S.C. § 7006(5). In Metropolitan, the Fourth Circuit held that a user clicking "yes" to agree to Metropolitan's website's terms of use before uploading copyrighted photographs, electronically signed a written transfer of his copyright ownership in the photographs he uploads. While the Fourth Circuit is the first Circuit Court to address electronic signatures in this context, this decision should help bring clarity where more and more business is conducted electronically.
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