Copyright and DMCA policy

Part A. Public policy text #

We respect copyright. If you believe material on the Service infringes your copyright, send a notice to our designated agent: [AGENT NAME], [ADDRESS], [EMAIL], [PHONE]. A notice must include (Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 1998, § 512(c)(3)):

1. A physical or electronic signature of the owner or a person authorized to act for them.
2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to be infringed.
3. Identification of the material and information reasonably sufficient to locate it.
4. Your contact information.
5. A statement of good faith belief that the use is not authorized by the owner, its agent, or the law.
6. A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the notice is accurate and that you are authorized to act.

Knowingly false notices can create liability (§ 512(f)).

Counter notice. If your material was removed and you believe it was a mistake or misidentification, you may send a counter notice with your signature, identification of the removed material and where it appeared, a statement under penalty of perjury of good faith belief of mistake, your contact information, and consent to the jurisdiction of the federal court for your address (§ 512(g)(3)). We forward it to the complainant and may restore the material in a window set by the statute unless the complainant files suit (counsel to confirm the 10 to 14 business day window in § 512(g)(2)(C)).

Repeat infringers. We keep and apply a policy to end accounts of users who are repeat infringers (§ 512(i)(1)). Policy proposal: three valid notices against an account within 12 months leads to termination, with counsel review of each case. [COUNSEL TO SET]

Part B. Designation steps (for Doc and counsel, not for publication) #

1. Decide the legal entity that will be the service provider and the named agent (an individual or a department; a role mailbox is allowed, counsel to confirm).
2. Register the agent in the U.S. Copyright Office electronic directory (U.S. Copyright Office, n.d.; Designation of agent to receive notification of claimed infringement, 2016, 37 C.F.R. § 201.38). Pay the fee shown at filing.
3. Renew every three years and update when details change; an expired designation can lose the safe harbor (counsel to confirm).
4. Publish the agent details on the site (§ 512(c)(2)) and in the Terms.
5. Build the intake: a monitored mailbox, a web form in the client portal, a case record in the trust and safety queue, an audit entry for each action.
6. Document the process: takedown within [hours], notify the user, counter notice handling, repeat infringer counter, records kept [years].
7. Train the staff roles and rehearse once before launch.
8. Interaction with user generated content features (public pages, shares). Safe harbor applies to storage at the direction of users; counsel to confirm for generated media and previews.

Open questions for counsel #

1. Agent identity and whether to use a third party agent service.
2. Repeat infringer threshold and the process for non user content.