ByDMCA Form Sample—Write a Perfect DMCA Takedown Notice
As a content creator, you should learn how to copyright your work, and it may seem simple at first glance.
Once you start digging into how copyright works, you'll discover that there is more to keeping your work safe from copyright infringement than registering it with the U.S. Copyright Office.
One of the most powerful tools at your disposal is a DMCA takedown notice, and DoNotPay can help you draft a perfect one.
What You Need To Know About Copyright
The DMCA takedown notice stems from the DMCA or Digital Millennium Copyright Act, one of the most important copyright laws in the United States.
DMCA protects creators who have default copyright over their work as long as they put that work in a tangible form. This automatic copyright ensures any work you create remains protected during your lifetime, and the protection lasts an additional 70 years.
It states that you are the only one who can copy, distribute, or sell your work. You are also the only person who can sell or give someone else a license to use that content.
The problem with this default protection is that it does little when it comes to fighting copyright infringement.
This is why creators usually step up their copyright game with one (or both) of these methods:
| Registering Their Copyright | Adding a Copyright Notice to Their Content |
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These tools are great as preventive measures, but what happens when someone steals your work?
When Do You Need a DMCA Form?
If someone steals your content and posts it online, internet copyright laws grant you permission to request a takedown.
The best way to report copyright infringement is to send a copyright infringement notice to the Internet Service Provider (ISP) hosting the website with infringing content. This way, you don't have to deal with infringers yourself but go straight to the ISP to resolve the issue.
Once you email your notice to the ISP, they will evaluate it and take down the infringing content if there is enough evidence in your favor.
You could encounter a potential glitch when reaching out to ISPs. These are usually large companies swamped with takedown notices. For your notice to get their attention, it needs to have a specific form.
Some ISPs and websites have built-in DMCA forms, which makes the process straightforward. YouTube, for example, has a copyright-claim system, allowing users to report an infringement on the platform.
When there is no such form, which is often the case, you'll have to write the takedown notice yourself.
What Are the Mandatory Parts of a DMCA Takedown Letter?
Assuming you decide to write a takedown notice on your own, you'll need to get ISP's attention.
You will have to make sure your letter contains all the relevant sections:
- Contact info, such as name, email, phone number, and mailing address
- Link to the website where you originally posted the content
- Links to websites infringing on your copyright
- A statement of good faith in which you declare that you, as the copyright owner, have not approved the content on the infringing website
- An affirmation statement in which you claim, under penalty of perjury, that the details stated in the DMCA notice are accurate to the best of your knowledge
- An electronic signature
Sample DMCA Takedown Notice
Not all takedown notices have to look the same, but here is a template you can use:
Subject: DMCA Copyright Infringement Notice
Dear Designated Copyright Agent,
My name is [First and Last name}, and I am the copyright owner of content that is being hosted without permission on your servers. The original content can be found here:
[Insert links]
The location of the content infringing on my copyright can be found here:
[Insert links]
This letter is official notification under Section 512(c) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"), and I seek the removal of the infringing material from your servers.
I am sending this notice in good faith that use of the content in the manner stated above is not authorized by me, the copyright owner.
The information provided here is accurate to the best of my knowledge. I swear under penalty of perjury that I am the copyright holder.
Should you wish to discuss this with me, please contact me directly.
Thank you for your time.
YOUR NAME
Address
City, State Zip
Phone
Note that apart from sending the notice, you'll have to find the contact info of the right ISP. Even if you include all the right sections, sending your notice to the wrong address will lead nowhere. DoNotPay has a solution for that!
No DMCA Takedown Template Needed—File a DMCA Notice With DoNotPay
If you want to compose your takedown notice quickly and without doing any research, DoNotPay is your go-to app.
DoNotPay is the first robot virtual lawyer in the world, granted with the American Bar Association Louis M. Brown Award for Access, specialized in tackling complex administrative tasks.
No need to search for the right ISP's email or worry about mandatory statements. We do it or for you!
Here is how to create a takedown notice fast:
- Open DoNotPay in your
- Click on the DMCA Takedown feature
- Type in the title of your content
- Paste the link to the infringing website
- Paste the link to the website where you posted the content originally
- Click on Sign and Submit
That's it! Our app will draft the notice and reach out to the ISP, hosting your content illegally. There is nothing else you need to do but check the results in the My Disputes tab.
Discover What Else DoNotPay Can Do for You
Our app can guide you through anything copyright-related, from providing examples of copyright notices and presenting famous copyright infringement cases to teaching you the difference between a trademark and copyright.
If you want to avoid copyright infringement penalties, you may want to learn how to avoid committing infringement.
We provide valid info about fair-use policies, DMCA abuse, and international copyright laws.
We can also show you how to check copyright for any content and file DMCA counter-notice if someone accuses you of infringing.
This is only the tip of the iceberg of DoNotPay's features because we are experts in many other areas.
You can check what else we can do by accessing DoNotPay from your .
Some of the tasks we can streamline are:
- Scheduling appointments with the DMV
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