Protecting Your Intellectual Property and Copyright
Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Our policy is to respond to notices of alleged infringement that comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”). Copyright-infringing materials found on the Site can be identified and removed via our process listed below and you agree to comply with such process in the event you are involved in any claim of copyright infringement to which the DMCA may be applicable.
Any individual or corporate entity (“Copyright Owner”) that believes in good faith that a User has infringed such Copyright Owner’s copyright(s), can request that we take down the infringing material(s) by following the steps in this DMCA compliance process. Please note that we do not and will not make any legal decisions about the validity of a Copyright Owner’s claim or your defenses to a claim.
When a clear and valid notice is received pursuant to the guidelines set forth below, we will respond by either taking down the allegedly infringing content or blocking access to it. We may contact the notice provider to request additional information.
Under the DMCA, we are required to take reasonable steps to notify the User who posted the allegedly infringing content (“Alleged Infringer”). The Alleged Infringer is allowed under the law to send us a counter notification as instructed below (“counter-notice”). On receiving a counter-notice, we may restore the allegedly infringing content unless we receive notice from the original notice provider that a legal action has been filed seeking a court order to restrain the Alleged Infringer from engaging in the allegedly infringing activity.
Notices and counter-notices are legal notices distinct from regular Site activities or communications, and are not subject to our Privacy Policy. This means that we may publish or share them with third parties at our discretion (in addition to producing them pursuant to a subpoena or other legal discovery request).
Anyone making a false or fraudulent notice or counter-notice may be liable for damages under the DMCA, including costs and attorney’s fees. Any person who is unsure of whether certain material infringes a copyright held by such person or a third party, you should contact an attorney.
Filing a DMCA Notice
To file a DMCA notice, the Copyright Owner must send in a written letter by regular mail only (not by email). We reserve the right to ignore a notice that is not in compliance with the DMCA, and we may, but are not obligated to, respond to a non-compliant notice.
A DMCA notice must:
- Identify specifically the copyrighted work(s) believed to have been infringed (for example, “My copyrighted work is the picture that appears at [list location where material is located].”);
- Identify the Content that a Copyright Owner claims is infringing on copyrighted work. Copyright Owner must provide information reasonably sufficient to enable us to locate the item on the Site. Copyright Owner should provide clear screenshots of the allegedly infringing materials for identification purposes only. The information provided should be as detailed as possible;
- Provide information sufficient to permit us to contact the Copyright Owner directly: name, street address, telephone number, and email (if available);
- If possible, provide information sufficient to permit us to notify the Alleged Infringer (email address preferred);
- Include the following statement: “I have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.”;
- Include the following statement: “I swear, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification is accurate and that I am the copyright owner or am authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.”;
- The notice must be signed;
- The notice must be sent to our DMCA designated agent at the following address:
DMCA Designated Agent
PO Box 2511
Kennesaw, Georgia 30156
Filing a DMCA Counter-Notice
If a User’s material has been removed or blocked by us as a result of a DMCA Notice, you may send us a counter-notice in accordance with Sections 512(g)(2) and (3) of the DMCA asking for the allegedly infringing material to be restored. To file a DMCA counter-notice with us, you must send a written letter by regular mail only (not by email).
When we receive a counter-notice, we will send a copy of the counter-notice to the party who originally requested the removal of the allegedly infringing material and we will reinstate the allegedly infringing material, unless that party obtains a court order supporting removal of the allegedly infringing material. We reserve the right to ignore a counter-notice that is not in compliance with the DMCA and we may, but are not obligated to, respond to a non-compliant counter-notice.
Your counter-notice must:
- Describe and list all material(s) that were removed by us and the location at which the material(s) appeared before it/they was/were removed. Please provide the specific profile or other unique identifying information so that we may have reasonably sufficient information to identify the material. The information provided should be as detailed as possible;
- Provide your name, address, telephone number and email address (if available);
- State that you consent to the jurisdiction of the U.S. Federal District Court for the judicial district in which your address is located (or Fulton County, Georgia if your address is outside of the United States);
- State that you will accept service of process from the person (or an agent of such person) who provided the DMCA notice to us.
- Include the following statement: “I swear under penalty of perjury, that I have a good faith belief that the material identified above was removed or disabled as a result of a mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled.”
- The counter-notice must be signed.
- The counter-notice must be sent to our designated DMCA designated agent at the following address:
DMCA Designated Agent
PO Box 2511
Kennesaw, Georgia 30156