The American Copyright Protection Act of 2026, introduced as H.R. 10364 on September 14, 2026, by Congressman Darrell Issa, aims to combat online piracy. The bill is currently under review by the House Judiciary Committee and has not yet been enacted into law.
The proposed mechanism requires copyright holders to obtain a federal court order declaring a foreign website as pirated. Once granted, rights holders can seek additional injunctions against internet service providers, DNS services, and VPN providers to block access to the identified resources.
Providers must implement commercially reasonable blocking measures within 14 to 30 days of receiving a court order. For time-sensitive content, such as live sports or concerts broadcast within 24 hours of their initial release, the court may adjust these timelines.
The bill excludes companies with fewer than 100,000 monthly users in the United States. Additionally, root DNS operators, top-level domain registries, and public network owners, such as libraries or airports, are exempt from these requirements.
The legislation acknowledges potential technical challenges regarding VPNs, CDN usage, and shared IP addresses. If a blocking order inadvertently restricts access to legitimate third-party services, affected operators or users can seek judicial relief and potential compensation of up to $250,000.
