Copyright Takedown Notice
Want to send someone using your copyrighted work without permission a DMCA Takedown Notice? Receive a DMCA Takedown and feel it was not properly requested? Intellequity can help in both situations. Read below for information relevant to your situation and for a brief discussion of how Intellequity might be able to help you!
Sending a DMCA Takedown Notice
Is someone posting your copyrighted work online without your permission? Perhaps it is a photograph or some creative content. There are mechanisms through the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) that allow you to request that an Internet Service Provider hosting the website take down your copyrighted work.
Best yet, these mechanisms are both cheaper, easier and faster to conduct than suing someone for copyright infringement! However, sending a DMCA copyright notice should not be done frivolously or without investigation. Failure to follow proper procedure or do an adequate investigation can not only hamper your efforts in getting content removed, it can also open you up to liability under the same law that was designed to protect you!
Before sending a takedown notice, it is important to ensure that you have a legitimate claim to send a notice, that is, you actually own the copyright. Second, the posted material must actually be infringing your copyright (fair use and other uses may be a defense). Finally, you must ascertain whether the site hosting the alleged infringing content is owned by the infringer, in which case, a DMCA takedown notice would be inappropriate (a cease and desist letter might need to be sent instead), or is an internet service provider located in the US (this law does not apply to most non-US isp's under the definition of the DMCA). Even after all of this, you need to be sure to include the proper information in the notice itself and send it to the proper agent, or it will fail as proper notice.
Need more detailed information? I can provide you with easy-to-understand, practical and trust-worthy legal advice on your DMCA questions. Want to talk now? You can easily book a consult here!
Receiving a DMCA Takedown Notice
If you believe that you have been incorrectly or wrongly served a notice under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, there may be actions or defenses that allow you to deny the request.
First and foremost, there must exist a valid copyright in the alleged infringing work. If you send a counter-notice denying any copyright infringement, the ISP must restore the content unless, within 10 business days, the ISP receives notice from the copyright owner that it has brought suit against the alleged infringer. Note that in order to file suit, a copyright owner would need to have (or obtain) a valid copyright registration. Therefore, checking to see if a valid registered copyright exists is an important step in determining the advisability of sending such counter-notice.
The next question to think about, is whether your use of the alleged infringing material is actually infringement. Sometimes certain uses may be allowed that become defenses to infringement. Such defenses include fair use, of which there are many types, works made for hire and assignment issues, statute of limitation issues and de-minimus infringement.
Have more questions or want more detailed information? Feel free to book a consultation to learn more about the process and your rights. If you decide to move ahead, we can begin the process together.
How Can Intellequity Help?
Many times, a seemingly simple task is more than what it seems. Beyond that, more times than not in this age of specialization, it is smarter and more cost effective to let someone who specializes in handling such tasks do the work for you. It may be that you might be able to do it, but should you?
Intellequity can help you determine the advisability of either sending a DMCA takedown notice, or objecting to one. This analysis will not only take into account the factors that would allow such action, but would also include practical information on the advisability (i.e. costs, cost-effectiveness and time commitment) of doing so.
Please call us at 503-877-0881, email us at info@intellequityip.com or book a consultation today!
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