The Ultimate Guide to DMCA Notices

You’d think with as Internet-literate as most people are now, copyright infringement wouldn’t happen as often as it probably did in the early days of the Web. Topics like intellectual property and copyright are covered pretty frequently both in blogs and traditional media, so more users than ever before are educated about them, or at least aware of them, if even just peripherally. Not to mention, the more technical search engine optimization (SEO) side of things is more commonly known as well, including issues about duplicate content and how it can be detrimental to a site’s rankings. So why would anyone still copy someone else’s work? And what can you do about it?

We may never be able to discern why someone would steal content. Laziness comes to mind, as does a desire to take a shortcut and achieve a goal in the least amount of time, which is just another kind of laziness. Regardless of the plagiarist’s motives, you do have the power to take action if you find someone has copied content from your site. It comes in the form of a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notice.

What is a DMCA Notice?

The answer to that question begins with an explanation of the DMCA. It’s basically an addendum to United States copyright law, written for the purpose of complying with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty. But Internet publishers are more concerned with the DMCA’s other purpose, which was to strengthen copyright law as it pertains to intellectual property and the emergence of new technology—namely, the Internet.

U.S. copyright law first came into being in the late 1700s, and is now governed by the Copyright Act of 1976. When the Internet came along, legal questions arose regarding whether existing copyright law could protect content published on the Web, or more specifically, the rights of those who create that content. Hence, the DMCA, signed into law by President Clinton in 1998.

If you find someone has copied content from your site, you have recourse through the issuance of a DMCA notice, also called a DMCA takedown notice.

What makes a DMCA notice so effective is that it’s not issued to the plagiarist. Think about it—if someone had the audacity to copy your content in the first place, receiving a notice asking them to take the content down probably won’t carry much weight. Instead, a DMCA notice is issued to the Internet service provider (ISP) hosting the site that contains the plagiarized content.

In addition to giving you the power to protect your content, the DMCA exempts ISPs from liability for copyright infringement perpetrated by its users. However, that exemption is provided conditionally, one of the conditions being their responsiveness to and cooperation upon receiving claims of copyright infringement.

The exemption and its conditions provide an incentive for ISPs to comply with DMCA notices, thereby further empowering you to take action should you discover your content has been stolen.

Who Can Issue a DMCA Notice?

Anyone can—including you. Upon finding your content on another site that has published it without your knowledge or consent, you are well within your rights under the DMCA to issue a takedown notice to the ISP hosting that site.

How Do You Issue a DMCA Notice?

Another way the DMCA offers protection to publishers is by not requiring an attorney or any other legal entity to issue takedown notices. You can do this yourself, in letter format, as long as the notice contains certain pieces of information:

• Location of the content infringing on your copyright: the URL where the plagiarized work is found; the title; any other identifying information
• Location of the original content: the URL, the title
• Your contact information: this allows the ISP to contact you while investigating your claim
• A “good faith” statement: this basically means you have good reason to believe use of the content you’re citing in your notice has not been authorized by the owner—you
• An accuracy statement: your word that the information you’re including in your DMCA notice is true to the best of your knowledge
• Your signature: it’s best if this is an actual manual signature, and not an e-signature

Some online entities, such as Google, Creative Commons, and Automattic (the parent company of WordPress.com), make it even easier for you by providing DMCA notice forms that you can fill out and submit directly to them.

Where do You Send a DMCA Notice?

If the ISP you must contact doesn’t provide an online form, you may have to mail the notice via postal service. Per the DMCA, ISPs are required to name an agent to respond to takedown notices, and to provide that agent’s contact information to the Register of Copyrights. Your DMCA notice must be sent to the appropriate ISP’s agent. If you’re unable to find that contact information on the ISP’s website, you can look it up here.

Do Paid DMCA Notice Services Exist?

Yes. Few things in this world can’t be accomplished by a third party and a nominal fee. If you own a personal blog or a very small website, you may not want to incur the expense of a service when you can simply write a letter yourself.

But if you’re a major publisher with dozens of websites, many or all of which have had content stolen, using a DMCA notice service can save you a lot of time and effort. Protecting your content is worth the investment.

Does the DMCA Only Apply in the United States?

Technically, because the DMCA is rooted in United States copyright law, it only applies within the country’s boundaries. However, this is also where using a DMCA notice service can be beneficial, even if you are a single-site owner.

Some DMCA notice services maintain relationships with ISPs around the world, and can help you if your content ends up on a website hosted outside the United States. In addition, some services can also help you if you don’t live in the U.S., and regardless of where your stolen content shows up.

Should you ever discover any of your content has been stolen, before you take any action, it’s best to explore your options and choose the DMCA notice method that’s best for your situation. If you decide to pursue a DMCA takedown notice, do not communicate directly with the owner of the site where your stolen content appears. Use the legal avenues made available to you to protect not only yourself, but your content. You have every right to do that.

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