DMCA takedown: how to get stolen designs and photos removed

What a DMCA takedown is

A DMCA takedown is a request from a copyright owner to an online service, such as a marketplace, a social network or a web host, to remove material that copies the owner's work. It comes from section 512 of the US Copyright Act. In the Copyright Office's words, its safe harbors shield qualifying online service providers from monetary liability for what their users post, in exchange for removing infringing material when notified and meeting other conditions.

For a maker, the usual cases are a shop selling prints of your illustration, a listing that uses your product photos, a print-on-demand store selling your design on shirts, or a site reposting your pattern or tutorial. In each case you send the notice to the site that hosts the copy, not to the person who copied it. The site then has to act expeditiously to remove, or disable access to the material, and must then promptly notify the user that originally uploaded the material.

The notice works only for copyright, which covers your own drawings, photos, written text and other original work. A copied shop name or logo used as a brand is a trademark question, which section 512 notices do not cover. If someone took a photo of you but you did not take it, the Copyright Office notes that Only a copyright owner or the owner’s authorized agent can submit a takedown notice, so the photographer would have to send it. There are various other state laws that may apply, such as privacy and right of publicity laws, so those cases depend on your state.

This page is general information, not legal advice. Copyright is federal law, but related claims vary by state, and a lawyer can tell you what applies to your case.

Someone stole my art: check these before you file

On Etsy's own summary of US law, copyright automatically exists from the moment a work that can be protected by copyright is created. A drawing or photo you made is protected without any filing, and you can send a notice for it as long as you still hold the rights.

• Confirm it is your work. Only a copyright owner or the owner’s authorized agent can submit a takedown notice. If a client commissioned the work, check your agreement for who owns the copyright.
• Confirm it is a copy of your actual drawing, photo or text. If the other listing only shares a style or a product idea, get legal advice before you file.
• Think about fair use and licenses. If you once licensed the image, or the use could be criticism or comment, the uploader may answer with a counter-notice. A false notice can cost you: Any person who knowingly materially misrepresents that material is infringing is liable for any damages, including costs and attorneys’ fees.
• Save evidence. Take dated screenshots of every page that shows the copy, save the page URLs, and keep your original files with their creation dates.
• Know that registration matters later. A copyright registration is not required before sending a takedown notice, but for U.S. works, a copyright registration is required before suing in court for copyright infringement.

What a DMCA takedown notice must include

The statute says a notice must be a written communication provided to the designated agent of the site, and must contain the six items below. Include all six: a notice with gaps slows the process, because the Copyright Office tells sites that if information is missing you will have a duty to contact the notice sender. The right-hand column shows what a maker would usually write for each one.

When one site has copied many of your works, the Copyright Office says you can give a representative list of the works instead of every one, but you still have to point to each copy, which specific URLs or listing specific pages.

DMCA takedown notice template

The Copyright Office also publishes a sample takedown notice. The text below follows the same elements. Replace each bracket with your own details, keep the two statements as they are, and send it to the site's DMCA agent or paste it into the site's copyright form.

1. Subject: DMCA notice of copyright infringement.
2. I am the copyright owner of the work described below [or: I am authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner, (owner's name)].
3. Original work: [title and short description of your design, illustration or photo], first published at [URL of your shop listing, portfolio or post].
4. Infringing material: [the full URL of each listing, image or page that copies the work]. Please remove or disable access to this material.
5. My contact details: [full name], [mailing address], [phone number], [email address].
6. 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.
7. The information in this notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, I am the owner, or authorized to act on behalf of the owner, of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
8. Signature: [your full name], [date].

How to file a DMCA takedown, step by step

You do not need to hire an attorney or anyone else to send a takedown notice. You can also authorize a lawyer or a takedown service to send it for you.

1. Find where the copy is hosted

   Send the notice to the site that stores the copy. For a listing on a marketplace, that is the marketplace. For a standalone shop or blog, it is the store platform or the web host.

2. Look for the site's copyright form

   Search the site's help pages or terms for DMCA or copyright. The Copyright Office notes that some sites have site-specific webforms that may result in a faster processing time, so use a form when one exists.

3. Otherwise find the DMCA agent

   Send the notice to the site's registered DMCA agent. Search the DMCA Designated Agent database for the company name and email your notice to the address listed. Many sites also list their agent on a page about copyright or DMCA.

4. Send one complete notice

   Include all six elements and every URL in one message. Keep a copy of what you sent and the date you sent it.

5. Watch for removal and replies

   Check the URLs after a few days. The Copyright Office says larger OSPs will be expected to remove material more quickly than smaller OSPs. If the uploader sends a counter-notice, the OSP will also send you a copy for you to decide whether to bring a court case.

6. Decide on the next step

   If the copy comes back after a counter-notice, your options are to let it go or to bring a claim in federal court or before the Copyright Claims Board. for U.S. works, a copyright registration is required before suing in court for copyright infringement.

How to report copyright infringement on Etsy

Etsy has its own route for intellectual property reports, set out in its Intellectual Property Policy. To report listings that copy your work, use the Etsy Reporting Portal. For usernames, shop names, videos on an Etsy shop page, or videos from an Explore post, Etsy uses a separate reporting form. Etsy says you can also register your brand in its Reporting Portal to make repeat reports easier.

Etsy may ask for more before it acts, such as a letter of authorization from the rights owner, identity verification of the reporting party. Etsy also says it is not in a position to offer legal advice or make legal determinations. It removes listings when a report meets its requirements, and any dispute about who owns the work stays between you and the seller.

Expect the seller to see your details. Etsy may share a copy of the report, including the name and email address of the reporting party, and the seller gets an email with the contact information of the party who filed it. Etsy tells reported sellers: Do not create additional listings for this content unless the issue is resolved with the other party. Etsy terminates selling privileges of members who are subject to repeat or multiple notices, in appropriate circumstances and at its discretion.

If you settle with the seller, Etsy accepts a withdrawal only directly from the intellectual property owner or authorized representative who submitted the claim.

What happens if the seller sends a counter-notice

A seller who believes the listing was removed by mistake can send a counter-notice. Under the statute it must contain a physical or electronic signature of the subscriber, the removed material and the location at which the material appeared before it was removed, a statement that it was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification, the seller's name, address, and telephone number, and a statement that the seller consents to the jurisdiction of Federal District Court and will accept service of process.

Because the counter-notice includes the seller's name, address, and telephone number, it gives you what you need to name the seller in a claim. If you do not know who is behind an account, the statute lets a copyright owner ask a federal court clerk to issue a subpoena to a service provider for identification of an alleged infringer.

Sites outside the US and sites that ignore you

A site hosted abroad can still receive your notice. The Copyright Office points out that Copyright law is territorial, and that If a website targets U.S. users, the website could be liable under U.S. law, so answering a notice gives such a site the same protection. It also notes that Responding to takedown notices is always voluntary. If a site ignores you, your remaining options are a court case in the US or a claim under the law of the country where the site operates.

If the copy is in a shop on a store platform, send the notice to the platform as well as the shop. Look for the platform's copyright or DMCA page, or search the agent directory for the platform's name.

How to protect your art from being copied

Nothing stops a determined copier, but a few habits make takedowns faster and give you more options when one fails.

• Register the works that sell best. for U.S. works, a copyright registration is required before suing in court for copyright infringement, so registration is what turns a refused takedown into a claim you can bring.
• Keep originals. Store layered source files, raw photos and sketches with their dates, which show you made the work first.
• Post where your name sits next to the work. A dated listing or portfolio post is the URL you will give as the original in every notice.
• Search for your images every few weeks with a reverse image search, and file as soon as you find a copy.
• Keep a takedown log: the URL, the date sent, the form or agent used and the result. The Copyright Office notes that multiple takedown notices may result in account termination for the uploader, so a record of past notices helps.

Where Nation fits

Questions about DMCA takedowns