As an online service provider (OSP) of a public forum, we fully comply with with the
Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Part of the DMCA allows a copyright owner to file a DMCA notice to get copyrighted content removed.
Notice from Copyright Owner
To file a DMCA notice, you may
contact an administrator. This must include the following (failure to include all items will invalidate the takedown notice):
- A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
- Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at this site.
- Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to allow us to locate the material.
- Information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact the complaining party. Email address is the preferred method of contact.
- A statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
- A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
Once we process your DMCA request, the infringing material will be removed or disabled and we will notify the user of your DMCA notice.
Counter Notice From User
Any user subject to a DMCA takedown notice is notified and allowed to file a valid counter notice to have their content/material put back up. This notice should include:
- A physical or electronic signature of the counter-complaining party.
- Information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact the counter-complaining party, such as an address, telephone number, and, email address at which the counter-complaining party may be contacted.
- Identification of the material that was removed.
- A statement that the counter-complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material was taken down unfairly.
- A statement consenting to the jurisdiction of your local US Federal District Court, or, if outside the US, to the United States District Court for the Southern District of California.
Once we receive a valid counter-notice, we will notify the party who filed the original notice. The original filer of the notice then has 10 business days to file a lawsuit against the user who allegedly infringed upon their copyright and notify us. If a lawsuit is not filed after that time, we will restore the removed material.
Things To Note
- DMCA notices and counter-notices are processed by a human being in the order received. Because of this, there is no exact time frame that your notice will be processed.
- A copyright owner cannot file a DMCA takedown notice if the infringing material was posted by them (when you register for this site, you grant us non-exclusive rights to publish content you post here).
- It is our policy to document all notices of alleged infringement on which we act, including by sending a copy of the notice to one or more third parties or making it available to the public.
- Please note that DMCA notices may only be used for actual copyright infringement (you can't get a post removed because someone talked about you or your company for example).
- IMPORTANT: Misrepresentations made in your notice regarding whether material or activity is infringing may expose you to liability for damages (including costs and attorneys' fees). Courts have found that you must consider copyright defenses, limitations or exceptions before sending a notice. In one case involving online content, a company paid more than $100,000 in costs and attorneys fees after targeting content protected by the U.S. fair use doctrine. Accordingly, if you are not sure whether material available online infringes your copyright, we suggest that you first contact an attorney.
