Copyright infringement on the Web is so pervasive that it’s easy to resign yourself to it as a fact of life — something out of your control. When photographers send cease-and-desist letters and/or demands for payment to infringers, these are often ignored, which can be very frustrating. But there is another solution, thanks to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA): you can send a takedown notice to the infringer’s ISP. Here’s how to do it.
DMCA Requirements
The DMCA states that while an ISP is not liable for transmitting information that may infringe a copyright, the ISP must remove materials from users’ Web sites that appear to constitute copyright infringement after it receives proper notice.
If you find a Web site that is using one of your images without permission, contact the hosting ISP to report the infringement. The letter you send is called a “DMCA takedown notice.” The ISP is required to make its agent’s name and address available so that you can send them notification. Your copyright does not have to be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office for you to take advantage of this DMCA provision.
You can find the infringing Web site’s hosting ISP through a “who is” search at sites like Domain Tools or Whois.net. When you notify the ISP of infringement, your letter must meet certain requirements. Specifically, your notification must:
• Be in writing;
• Be signed by the copyright owner or agent; your electronic signature is OK;
• Identify the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed (or a list of infringements from the same site);
• Identify the material that is infringing your work;
• Include your contact info;
• State that you are complaining in “good faith;”
• State that, “under penalty of perjury, that the information contained in the notification is accurate;” and
• State that you have the right to proceed (because you are the copyright owner or the owner’s agent).
A Sample Takedown Notice
Send a letter like the following to make your claim:
VIA Email at ISPHosting[at]isp.com
Re: Copyright Claim
To the ISP Hosting Company:
I am the copyright owner of the photographs being infringed at:
http://www.vividwildlife.com/Alaska.htm
http://www.vividwildlife.com/links.htm
Copies of the photographs being infringed are included to assist with their removal from the infringing Web sites.
This letter is official notification under the provisions of Section 512(c) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) to effect removal of the above-reported infringements. I request that you immediately issue a cancellation message as specified in RFC 1036 for the specified postings and prevent the infringer, who is identified by its Web address, from posting the infringing photographs to your servers in the future. Please be advised that law requires you, as a service provider, to “expeditiously remove or disable access to” the infringing photographs upon receiving this notice. Noncompliance may result in a loss of immunity for liability under the DMCA.
I have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of here is not authorized by me, the copyright holder, or the law. The information provided here is accurate to the best of my knowledge. I swear under penalty of perjury that I am the copyright holder.
Please send me at the address noted below a prompt response indicating the actions you have taken to resolve this matter.
Sincerely,
/s/ Carolyn E. Wright
Email: carolyn@photoattorney.com
After the ISP receives the notice, it should remove the infringing materials.
Infringements are much too common these days. Fortunately, there are tools to fight them. The DMCA takedown notice is one of the more powerful ones.
August 19th, 2008 at 11:38 am
Image on web-server, but not displayed
A copyright infringer reluctantly remove my photo from displaying on his website, but by linking to the file itself (not the page), I can see that my image is still stored on his webserver.
Do I have an rights? Can I ask the site owner or the ISP to remove it?
Documentation:
http://www.drspix.com/story2.htm
August 19th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
@Duane: absolutely, such copying of your photo onto a server without your permission is infringement. Ask the site owner and/or the ISP to remove it!
And register your photos!
August 19th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
Don't forget that the Internet is international, for instance, European isp's are under no obligation to take down (supposedly) infringing content unless ordered by a judge. The DMCA had no meaning there.
August 20th, 2008 at 12:28 am
The DMCA is US law. Other countries may treat copyright infringements in the web differently. Check with your attorney for details.
August 23rd, 2008 at 11:26 pm
RFC 1036?
What kind of gobblegook is that. Citing a 1987 Usenet spec as a response to an infringement on an http server?
As a sysadmin, if I got that, I would just scratch my head and ignore it.
You really should consult with a networking professional in order to present your request for action to actually make some sort of sense.
Good luck.
September 10th, 2008 at 11:18 am
In regards to the question of international ISPs, it is worth noting that such companies are subject to their local law, which through the World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty (adopted in Geneva on December 20, 1996) and subsequently accepted/adopted/ratified by the bulk of the nations in which such servers and service providers reside, while not subject directly to the DMCA, are still subject to upholding and recognizing copyright from other nations.
This brings the burden back to the ISP that they are bound under law to enforce copyright as their local law would apply.
Failure to do so, leaves the ISP subject to prosecution within their home jurisdiction. While it might seem unlikely that a person in say, the United States will pursue a suit or prosecution in, for example, China, the prospect is still very real, and the consequences to the ISP could be devastating. In this example, to the tune of about $60,000 USD or actual damages (if determinable) plus potentially up to 7 years imprisonment.
With regards to the citing of RFC 1036, this appears to be specifying the format of the cancellation message to be sent back to the complainant.
As a SysAdmin, it would be your responsibility to take such a notice to the legal representative(s) of your organization, to determine whether this legal notice is a true and legal notice, and to determine what if any response your organization is obligated to issue.
December 5th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
I'm finding all of your articles to be very interesting. Thanks very much!
February 6th, 2009 at 9:41 am
Does this apply to MP3s? Someone has lifted on of my MP3s in its entirety and posted it on another site. -RS
September 23rd, 2009 at 1:53 pm
Wow, this is great stuff and I'm glad I ran across your blog. Keep it coming!
October 8th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
So this guy has a domain name registered in the US but has his own server in Poland, and he stole my entire web pages, took my OLD domain name and put up a site with my pages with ads for hotels and casinos in Europe. So is the company in the US liable in any way?
November 11th, 2009 at 8:57 pm
Bravo! Practical, useful, and tough-minded advice. I have retweeted this article.
BTW, your personal photo is badly out of focus. If you want a new one, I'd be happy to oblige!
January 27th, 2010 at 6:46 pm
Carolyn, what can you do in the case of a website the regularly violates DMCA? The scenario is a website that posts daily pictorials of images swiped from another professional community website. I have confirmed that the copyright holders are never asked permission personally being in touch with them. The ISP has been very helpful in offering to process DMCA requests and I've been notifying copyright holders with the takedown information when I can, but isn't there something to be done when a site is a regular violator of DMCA?