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How to avoid frivolous DMCA notices.
The best way to avoid DMCA notices is to avoid downloading torrent files. Most of these files contain copyrighted material that will trigger the alarm bells. You can do this by disabling and/or turning off file-sharing in any peer-to-peer applications you are using.
The next best way to avoid frivolous DMCA notices is to get yourself an offshore web hosting plan from a reputable company, from a country which takes freedom of speech and privacy matters seriously and looks out for their clients.
A company like Orangewebsite.com, based in Iceland, is one such company that can help you avoid these frivolous DMCA notices. In my opinion, they are best at doing so for a variety of reasons including their prices, support and service.
Best of all, they look out for their clients and as a matter of policy, don’t respond to frivolous DMCA takedown notices unlike many other web hosting providers.
However, if you do not have Orangewebsite as your web host then, first and foremost, don’t publish content whether that’s written, images or otherwise which is not your own and/or copyrighted.
Whether or not you have Orangewebsite or another host, this should be a given.
Second, don’t copy and paste someone else’s content or use their images without expressed permission from the content creator. If these seem obvious, that’s because they are.
However, sometimes content creators can take a little too much inspiration from the sources they’ve gotten their information from.
As a result, they may unknowingly have copied word for word the information from their source and include it in their own article or blog post without permission or proper credit.
In addition, many content creators will simply go through Google’s image search, find an image they like, copy it onto their hard drive and then put it up on their own blog without checking the copyrights for that particular image or media first.
So the first way of course to avoid a DMCA takedown notice is to make sure that all the content you publish is yours or that you have the right to publish it and that any material you publish is not copyrighted.
But how can you stop a frivolous DMCA takedown notice on content that you have not only created yourself but any media including images you have the rights for?
Well keep reading because frivolous DMCA take down notices are more common than you think.
In this post, I will go through the steps that you can take to avoid frivolous DMCA takedown notices.
I will also attempt to answer some frequently asked questions regarding DMCA takedown notices.
However, you should know that none of this information is a substitute for legal advice.
The following information is for informational purposes only and you are advised to seek legal advice where necessary.
Will a VPN stop DMCA notices for my website?
A VPN will not stop a DMCA notice for your website.
Many often confuse receiving a DMCA notice from their internet service provider for downloading copyrighted content through their ISP and receiving a DMCA notice for content that is hosted on their web hosting provider’s ISP for their website.
If you receive a DMCA takedown notice for the latter, a VPN will not stop or help you avoid a DMCA takedown notice for your website.
What do you do when you get a DMCA notice?
First of all don’t panic. Just because you receive a DMCA takedown notice, does not mean that your entire website is going to be taken off the internet.
In most cases, it is just the content that is the subject of the DMCA notice and not the entire website itself.
Your web host, though, in an effort to get you to remove the content in question without delay as well as to cover themselves, may just temporarily take your entire website off the internet.
So you will need to, at the very least, unpublish the content in question, then notify your web host that you have done so.
Usually they will get your entire website backup live within a few hours.
Needless to say, this can be quite an inconvenience, but nonetheless, this also needs to be addressed ASAP, if it happens to you.
Next, check to see that the content that you have received the DMCA takedown notice for isn’t infringing on anyone’s copyright.
If it is and you have accidentally infringed on someone’s copyright, then you should take down that content from your website ASAP. That is one of the main purposes of the DMCA notice after all.
However, if you are receiving a DMCA take down notice on content that you have written, or on any images you have used that you do have the rights for, then you should be able to prove this to your web hosting provider.
Second, if you feel that the DMCA take down notice was indeed a frivolous attempt to get you to take down content that you have full rights in publishing, then you can send what is called a counter-notice.
Here is a copy of an excellent counter-notice for a DMCA takedown notice. “Do-It-Yourself Counter Notification Letter“.
In fact, most who do receive frivolous DMCA takedown notices aren’t even aware of the fact that they can actually file a DMCA counter-notice.
In most of the cases of frivolous DMCA takedown notices, this should suffice.
You should also send this to your web hosting provider so that they have a copy for their records and can forward it to the person sending the original DMCA take down notice if need be.
However, many web hosting providers in an effort to shield themselves from any legal ramifications, will automatically keep any content in question off the internet from their servers for a period of 10 to 14 days while the content in question is settled.
Frivolous DMCA takedown notices have become such a problem that a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property was formed and gathered the testimonies from some leading experts.
This one testimony below, in particular, is complete with examples of frivolous DMCA takedown notices, how they were used and how they had been dealt with.
Here’s the published testimony of the expert:
“Is the DMCA’s Notice-and-Takedown System Working in the 21st Century?”
Testimony of Abigail A. Rives, Intellectual Property Counsel, Engine Advocacy and Research Foundation
Senate Committee on the Judiciary
Subcommittee on Intellectual Property June 2, 2020
What happens if you ignore DMCA?
Don’t ignore it, address it. Find out if the DMCA notice has a valid reason behind it or if it’s frivolous. If it’s frivolous then try the above steps in the previous section.
How do you protect yourself from frivolous DMCA notices?
The best way to protect yourself from frivolous DMCA takedown notices is to of course get yourself some offshore hosting, like Orangewebsite.
That right there should help prevent most, if not all, frivolous DMCA takedown notices.
In addition, you’ll find that their hosting plans are quite competitive with those equivalent onshore hosting plans you may be currently using or considering.
Why wouldn’t you simply get an offshore hosting plan to begin with though that is based in a country like Iceland?
You’ll get that frivolous DMCA takedown notice protection included with your web hosting plan automatically, so again, why not?
What countries ignore DMCA?
In theory, most countries outside the United States can be considered “DMCA ignored hosting countries”.
However, in actuality, most DMCA ignored hosting countries are located in countries like Iceland, the Netherlands, Switzerland as well as various countries in Eastern Europe and Asia.
How to avoid DMCA notices, conclusions.
As I’ve mentioned in the post, The best way to avoid DMCA notices, especially frivolous ones, is to simply get an offshore web hosting provider like Orangewebsite.com.
Next, make sure that any content you publish on your website is yours or that you have the permission to publish from the content creator themselves.
This should go without saying, but unfortunately because most of the information, entertainment and services we use on the internet today is free, many assume that they can simply republish someone else’s content and pass it off as their own for free as well.
By getting yourself an offshore web hosting provider you can “nip in the bud” the majority of frivolous DMCA notice issues before they even become an issue in the first place. The only question is, “Why wouldn’t you get yourself an offshore web hosting provider today for your website?
Disclaimer: The information in this blog post (“post”) is provided for general informational purposes only, and may not reflect the current law in your jurisdiction. No information contained in this post should be construed as legal advice from wpwebsitetools.com. or the individual author, nor is it intended to be a substitute for legal counsel on any subject matter. No reader of this post should act or refrain from acting on the basis of any information included in, or accessible through, this Post without seeking the appropriate legal or other professional advice on the particular facts and circumstances at issue from a lawyer licensed in the recipient’s state, country or other appropriate licensing jurisdiction.
