ByHandling Instagram Copyright Infringement Is Easier With DoNotPay
Instagram may have started as a platform for amateur photos of food and cute kittens, but nowadays, this social media giant is a go-to marketing tool for big brands, photographers, musicians, and other kinds of artists.
With bigger exposure comes a higher risk of copyright infringement, so learning about the U.S. copyright laws, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), and the DMCA protection of your content has become crucial.
If you post your original content on Instagram, you should know how to copyright your photos and videos, how useful copyright notices and claims are, and how copyright works on Instagram in general.
What Is Copyright?
Copyright represents a set of exclusive rights that every author gains automatically upon the creation of original work. When it comes to Instagram, the content that can be copyrighted and serve as a target for copyright infringement includes:
- Audiovisual and visual works—Photographs, paintings, movies, TV shows, video games, etc.
- Written works—Newspaper and magazine articles, novels, poems, song lyrics, manuscripts, etc.
- Audio works—Speech recordings, songs, sound recordings in general, etc.
In most cases, if you take a photo for Instagram, you own the rights to it, but authorship matters might get confusing at times. The following situations are worth exploring further:
- Being in the photo—It may be counterintuitive, but you don’t own the rights to a photograph just because you’re in it. The rights usually belong to the photographer
- Taking a photo of the same subject—You cannot stop others from taking similar photos of the Empire State Building, but you can prevent reposts and copies of your work
- Working as a photographer for someone else—If taking pictures falls under your responsibilities as stated in your employment contract, your employer might be the owner of the copyright
Another important question is—how long does copyright last? All works created after 1976 belong to their copyright owner during their lifetime plus an additional 70 years. After that period, the creative content passes into the public domain, and anyone can use it without special permission.
What Counts as Instagram Copyright Infringement?
Copyright infringement refers to the violation of some of the exclusive rights of the author. Most often, infringement on Instagram means copying someone else’s content or using it for financial gain without authorization.
Since reposting or copying someone else’s creative work is easy on social media, most people do it without being aware of the possible ramifications. Copyright infringement on Instagram may include these examples:
- Playing copyrighted songs even though you bought the music
- Sharing your videos with copyrighted music in the background
- Reposting or copying work by other creators even if you give credit or include a disclaimer that you don’t mean to infringe on their rights
- Copying content with no intention of using it commercially
- Editing someone else’s work
- Posting content found on other social media or elsewhere on the internet
How To Report Copyright Infringement on Instagram
The first step you can take when you notice someone on Instagram using your creative work without permission is to report copyright infringement. Instagram allows you to claim a violation of your author’s rights by:
- Filling out the Copyright Report Form
- Contacting the designated DMCA agent
The contact information for Instagram’s DMCA agent is in the table below:
| Phone | 650-543-4800 |
| Address |
Instagram, LLC Attn: Instagram Designated Agent 1601 Willow Road Menlo Park, California 94025 |
| ip@instagram.com |
If you choose to exercise your rights by contacting the DMCA agent, you should include a complete copyright claim in your report. Instagram doesn’t allow you to report copyright infringement on someone’s behalf. As stated on its Copyright page, Instagram will share your contact and report details with the person accused of infringement.
Does Instagram Delete Your Account for Copyright Infringement?
The infringement of intellectual property rights goes against Instagram’s Terms of Use that everyone agrees with when they open an account. The popular photo-sharing platform has a Repeat Infringer Policy, and if you keep violating a trademark or copyright owner’s exclusive rights, Instagram may disable your account or remove your page.
The severity of Instagram’s actions against infringers depends on the type of reported content and the virtual location of the post.
Instagram’s policies don't specify how many times someone can accuse you of copyright infringement before they start limiting your access to certain features.
Can I Send Demand Letters To for Copyright Infringement on IG?
While you may have automatic author’s rights whenever you create new content, as long as it’s fixed in a tangible or visible form, exercising those rights in court is a different matter. If you wish to take the person who stole your content on Instagram to court, you will have to register your copyright with the United States Copyright Office first.
Obtaining a copyright certificate that proves your ownership is possible online or via mail. Electronic copyright registration is quicker, costs less, and includes these steps:
- Sign up for a Copyright Office account on this page
- Choose Register when you log in
- Fill out the registration form
- Use your credit card to pay the registration fees
- Upload a copy of your work in one of the allowed formats
If you’re interested in how much it costs to copyright your photos or other creative content, check out the table below:
| Online Registrations | Single author, same claimant, one work, not for hire | $45 |
| All other filings | $65 | |
| Paper Registrations (Forms PA, SR, TX, VA, SE) | $125 | |
Since copyright registrations can take up to 18 months, you can speed up the process by paying the special handling fee of $800.
DoNotPay Makes Fighting Instagram Copyright Infringement Easier
If you decide to contact Instagram’s designated DMCA agent, you will need to include a complete takedown notice, written according to the requirements of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998.
Researching what those requirements mean and learning relevant terminology will take a lot of time, but if you use DoNotPay, you will handle this issue in mere minutes. Our platform allows you to create custom-made, highly efficient DMCA takedown notices that will protect your original content on Instagram in the best possible way.
The whole process takes just a few steps:
- Sign up for a DoNotPay account in any
- Hit DMCA Takedown when you log in
- Provide the name of your work and relevant Instagram links
- Confirm your contact information
- Click on Sign and Submit to finish
Unless you’re a professional photographer or artist, you probably haven’t registered your work officially. With DoNotPay’s takedown notices, you won’t have to because they work even when you don’t have proof of ownership besides the web page where you initially posted your content.
Do You Have More Instagram-Related Troubles?
Our platform is a great resource for solving other Instagram-related problems. DoNotPay can help you contact Instagram’s customer support without any hassle or protect yourself when an ex keeps stalking you online.
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