A notice or letter sent in accordance with the terms of the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) that demands that an internet service provider or website host (ISP) takedown a website that infringes the notifier’s copyright(s). In response the ISP must act with “deliberate speed” to investigate the alleged infringement or take down the infringing material. The ISP may also notify the party whose materials are alleged to infringe and they can response with a counter notification explaining why they think the demand that the offending content be taken down was wrong or improper.
A takedown notice under the DMCA must include
- The signature or electronic signature of the copyright holder or the holder’s agent;
- Identify the copyrighted work allegedly infringed;
- Identify the infringing material;
- Include the notifier’s contact information;
- State that the notice is made in good faith;
- State that the information presented in the notice is made under penalty of perjury and believes to be accurate.
It is usually desirable to include
- screenshots of the offending web-page, the web address,
- IP trace information showing that the page or site is hosted on the ISPs server and WHOIS information used to track the webpage or ISP.
The agent for service of the letter, if the ISP is in the United States, is available from the website of the US Copyright office. A DMCA Counter-Notice will usually need to include
- A list of the works removed;
- A statement that the works were removed in error;
- An assertion that the works do not infringe any copyrights;
- State that the counter-notice is made under penalty of perjury;
- If the maker of the counter notice is in the United States, identify where that maker resides and that they consent to the jurisdiction of the US District Court in that place;
- If the maker is not resident in the United States it must identify and agree to the jurisdiction of a US District Court;.
- It must consent to accept service of process from the sender of the original Takedown Notice.