DMCA Takedown Fast Tip
You can see a full list of FAQs by the US Copyright Office to help you determine if Fair Use applies in your case.
There is a doctrine in the United States copyright law called “Fair Use” which allows people to use your content without your permission. One of the first issues to establish before sending out your DMCA takedown notice is whether or not you have grounds to file one. Often an infringing publisher will claim "Fair Use" to describe their right to publish. The aspect of fair use within publishing is well documented. If you would like assistance with your takedown request, go here to submit the form.
Take into consideration the following:
Fair Use is now widely accepted in most countries around the world. It allows the limited use of copyrighted material without requiring permission from the copyright owner. Items considered Fair Use would be commentary, criticism, news reporting, research, teaching or scholarship. It provides for the legal, non-licensed citation or incorporation of copyrighted material in another author’s work under a four-factor balancing test.
It references four factors to measure fair use. They are:
This is important because if a smaller photo of yours is used or a few words out of an entire document is used this could fall under Fair Use depending on the site and the use. If someone were to take a paragraph of your work, or a site has copied your entire site or pictures, and they run a business profiting from your copyrighted work, then most likely its copyright infringement. It is usually very obvious when you see how your work is being used whether the content is being used under the Fair Use criteria or for profit.
You must provide the following to get started filing a DMCA Takedown Notice:
What is the content owner's name and how was the content stolen? How is this content yours? How do you own it? Did you create it, buy it, copyright it? Who is claiming ownership of the content? Who is authorized to file the DMCA Takedown? When did you create the content and when was the content stolen?
An example description would sound like: "My photo I took of myself on my camera was stolen from my Google Drive and was posted on this website without my knowledge and I would like it removed."
If you are unsure how to collect the information for these three categories the Professional Takedown Team at DMCA.com can help with the answers. Click here to ask us about your situation.
Where was your content located when it was stolen? Was it on your social media profile? Was it from your own website? Provide the exact URL where it was stolen from, even if the content has already been removed from its original location. The original URL is still valuable to the notice. If it was not online you can reference cell phone, computer, or camera etc. If it was online such as a website or cloud storage provide the link to the exact page it was stolen from. You can upload the original content to a cloud storage service and provide that URL with an explanation of where it was originally stolen from.
An example link would look like: https://share.icloud.com/photos/my_original_content
Where on the internet (or platform like Facebook or TikTok) is your stolen content located? What is the link that you want the content removed from? Be sure to provide the URL or website/webpage link of the content you want removed. If the stolen content is an image or video located on a website provide the direct link of the content contained in the site. Copy and paste the infringing text, or provide the URL of the infringing image if required.
An example link would look like: https://www.badguy_site.com/webpage/image_2
If you are unsure on how to answer any of these questions, we can help! Click here to Ask us about your situation.
Notices can be filed through many different websites and platforms. Here are some examples:
If this is the case, a DMCA Counterclaim or Counter Notice is submitted in response to a valid DMCA Takedown by the accused infringing website or content owner to claim "Fair Use" if this is what they believe. This is submitted to the service provider (OSP/ISP) after the DMCA Takedown Notice has been submitted and after the content has been removed from the listed infringing website.
A counterclaim claiming "Fair Use" cannot be used to defend against or as a defense to a Takedown Notice.
A counterclaim claiming "Fair Use" cannot be used to delay the process of a Takedown Notice.
Once the service provider (ISP/OSP) has received a valid DMCA Counterclaim stating "Fair Use" they must wait 10-14 days before they re-activate or allow access to the claimed infringing content. Unless the copyright owner (complainant) files a order in court against the infringing site owner, the defendant (ISP / OSP subscriber) and demonstrates the order to the ISP/OSP.
If you need to process a Counterclaim, we can help. Click here to submit the form.
You can find more information on Fair Use here: