Do you think the DMCA takedown notice is always the way to go?

If someone had stolen your content, it might be an image, audio, video or text content. What to do if so? Your content had been authorized by the unknown person without your permission then you need to immediately counteract with the DMCA takedown notice. With the advanced improvements in technology, theft is also born and increased very quickly.

What do you mean by DMCA takedown notice?

The DMCA takedown is the way where the content is removed from the website with the request from the website owner or by taking permission from the copyright of the owner. You had right to process the DMCA takedown notice if the anyone whether the website owner or the online service provider is using your content without any authorized permission.

DMCA is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and is a group of laws to protect the copyright content from the digital mediums. It had been used as the solution for the many copyright infringement issues. There are many conditions to be proven to use the DMCA takedown notice.

The DMCA takedown notice provides the copyright holders to request an Internet Service Provider, search engine, website owner to remove the content that is infringing their copyright. When compared to other copyright laws, it does not require any registered copyright.

You can be subject to DMCA takedown notice when the content is yours.

Before processing on to the DMCA takedown notice here is the list of conditions to be followed.

  • When the copyright infringing content is removed or takedown from the website by the website owner upon the receipt of DMCA takedown notice from the authorized ISP or hosting companies.
  • When the copyright infringing content is removed from the website by the website owner upon the DMCA takedown notice from the content owner, distributor or publisher etc.
  • When the copyright infringing content is removed or takedown from the website by the ISP or hosting company.
  • If the website owner does not comply with the infringing content then the infringing website is taken down by the ISP or hosting company.

On the other hand, the takedown process takes its action upon the DMCA takedown notice which uses the stipulations or conditions stated in the DMCA act. This act will directly say to remove the infringing content from the website that is infringing without any permission or authorization of the content owner.

So before you send a DMCA takedown notice there will be a few things which need to be established in a secured format.

  • Whether you own the copyright or not.
  • Check whether the alleged infringement is not covered by the exception.
  • Check whether the content is capable of being infringed online. The content should be in digital format only.

If you are determined with the above 3 things then you can file the DMCA takedown notice.

Steps required to file a DMCA takedown notice:

  • You need to locate to the exact person who used your content or copied your content on the others website. If you want to send takedown notice you can send through an email or form. It may be found in the terms and conditions and copyright law. Even though you cannot find the DMCA agent contact on the website search the US copyright list of DMCA agents.
  • If the ISP, search engine, or website or any platform has an online form for the DMCA takedown request then it is best to use it as an initial point of contact for timely response.
  • If online form is not available you need to send DMCA takedown requests in the preferred format by the DMCA agent only.
  • If you are not using any online form then you can send a letter with some specific information. The DMCA act sets forth the information that needs to be provided in the DMCA takedown notice.

You need to send the request for the multiple parties and keep the concise information in the letter so that you had enough information for the request you made.

Sample DMCA takedown notice letter:

To Whom You are Writing,

The below information is true to be served. It is my request to remove the allegedly infringing web content under the DMCA. This letter is regarding the copyright infringement. So I Am contacting you as the designated DMCA agent for the website to remove the infringing content. It is an infringement letter authorized in dollars of the U.S. Copyright Law.

I myself as the content owner of the work and following are true and accurate details I mentioned below.

  • The original work at following locations with my permissions.

{ Mention the URLs where your authorized work appears}

  • Here are the list of my copyright work to assist for evaluation and determination.

{attachments and proof of your original piece of content)

  • The allegedly infringing content appears at few locations online.

{URLs where infringing content appears}

  • Contact information as the copyright holder of the content.

{contact information of the copyright holder}

  • Describe the information of the alleged copyright infringer.

{Give information on where your content is infringing}

  • It’s true to my copyright work that appears on the website for which you are the designated agent.

SAMPLE DMCA TAKEDOWN NOTICE TEMPLATE

To Whom It May Concern,

The following information serves to assert my rights and request removal of allegedly infringing web content under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The following is a report, in good faith, of alleged copyright infringement. I am contacting you as the designated agent for the site upon which the infringing work currently appears. This letter is a Notice of Infringement as authorized in §512(c) of the U.S. Copyright Law.

I am the copyright owner of the works and the following is true and accurate.

1. The original work, for which I claim copyright, appears, with my permission, at the following locations online:

{URLs WHERE YOUR ORIGINAL AUTHORIZED WORK APPEARS}

2. Copies of my original copyrighted work are {attached/included/provided} to assist you in your evaluation and determination.

3. The allegedly infringing {work/text/image} appears at the following location(s) online:

{URLs WHERE INFRINGING WORK IS CURRENTLY LOCATED}

4. My contact information, as the copyright holder, is as follows:

{INCLUDE YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION}

5. The information of the alleged copyright infringer is:

{INSERT WHOIS INFORMATION FOR THE SITE YOU ALLEGE IS INFRINGING}

6. I have a good faith belief the use of the above reference copyrighted work(s) that appears on the website for which you are the designated DMCA agent is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or by law.

I declare, under penalty of perjury, this notice is true and correct and that I am the copyright owner entitled to exclusive rights which I allege are being infringed.

Signature along with the city, state and country you belong to.

Apart to the above infringer notice you will be getting a counter-notice as the reply to your request.

From the above-mentioned description you are very clear in filing a DMCA takedown notice. Google, in turn, takes the DMCA complaints very seriously and follows up with strict guidelines. In Google, you can see the DMCA transparency page where you can see the number of DMCA request made. You can even enter your domain name to check the DMCA requests.

Google never make the mistakes but as the DMCA requests are handled by the human’s mistakes can take place. You will receive the DMCA removal request through your email even though you are not doing any fault. If there is no fault on your side immediately you can submit a counter-notice to fix the issue. The DMCA request can slightly affect your search rankings.

How to file a counter-notice to fix the issue to Google?

In the email you got you can see the counter notification option. Click on the counter notification which in turn take you to a form. Here you need to fill out all the necessary fields. You need to fill out all the fields to justify your request strongly.

You can add more information so as to give strong concern for your DMCA counter-notice.

Conclusion:

This is the best part you can do if you find your authorized content is used by the others without any permission. You can file the DMCA takedown notice for removal and also counteract for the issues raised to solve the problems in a more simple manner.