7.4. Content Removal Policies - Guide to Submitting a DMCA Counter Notice
This document is a comprehensive guide for users on how to submit a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) counter notice to a platform. It outlines the necessary information, legal implications, and potential consequences of filing a counter notice, strongly advising users to seek professional legal counsel. The guide emphasizes the importance of truthfulness and understanding copyright law complexities.
Guide to Submitting a DMCA Counter Notice
This document is taken from the GitHub website - more information about GitHub and its functions can be found at https://github.com/. Please note that many of the included provisions are designed for GitHub or similar site (such as for building and developing software with online communities), so they are not relevant to all types of business.
You can amend this document to be suitable for your own Community and purposes using the smart fields and customizing the bracketed sections. We recommend adding hyperlinks to your own policies and website pages - make sure your business has in place all the policies referred to here.
This guide describes the information that [company name] needs in order to process a counter notice to a DMCA takedown request. If you have more general questions about what the DMCA is or how [company name] processes DMCA takedown requests, please review our DMCA Takedown Policy.
If you believe your content on [company name] was mistakenly disabled by a DMCA takedown request, you have the right to contest the takedown by submitting a counter notice. If you do, we will wait [10-14 days] and then re-enable your content unless the copyright owner initiates a legal action against you before then. Our counter-notice form, set forth below, is consistent with the form suggested by the DMCA statute, which can be found at the U.S. Copyright Office's official website: https://www.copyright.gov.
As with all legal matters, it is always best to consult with a professional about your specific questions or situation. We strongly encourage you to do so before taking any action that might impact your rights. This guide isn't legal advice and shouldn't be taken as such.
Before You Start
Tell the Truth. The DMCA requires that you swear to your counter notice under penalty of perjury. It is a federal crime to intentionally lie in a sworn declaration. (See U.S. Code, Title 18, Section 1621.) Submitting false information could also result in civil liability—that is, you could get sued for money damages.
Investigate. Submitting a DMCA counter notice can have real legal consequences. If the complaining party disagrees that their takedown notice was mistaken, they might decide to file a lawsuit against you to keep the content disabled. You should conduct a thorough investigation into the allegations made in the takedown notice and probably talk to a lawyer before submitting a counter notice.
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