Every day, creative people are shocked to find their copyrighted material online because an infringer uploaded it for their own benefit without seeking permission. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA) enables you to request that the service provider, web host, or search engine remove what is rightfully yours. Our experienced copyright attorneys may help you with this request.
The DMCA takedown notice alerts websites and social media platforms that they are hosting unauthorized copyrighted material, and it must be removed. In many cases, because they have nothing to gain by allowing your content to remain online and the notice could serve as a precursor to a copyright infringement lawsuit against them, they remove it. If your creation is somewhere online and you did not authorize it, a Boca Raton DMCA takedown notice lawyer could help you remove it from the offending site.
During the 1990s, internet use exploded all over the world, and people began sharing images, songs, videos, and writings they did not create. In 1996, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) enacted the Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) for copyright holders’ protection from online infringers.
The U.S. Congress followed suit as a signatory to the treaty and in 1998 adopted the DMCA, expanding the protection from copyright holders to internet service providers (ISPs) that, realistically, could not police every creation uploaded to their sites. Thus, the takedown notice appeared so the problem could be settled before costly litigation. Boca Raton lawyers understand the complexity of the DMCA laws and could draft takedown notices that satisfy the language-specific elements, as well as follow up when clients do not hear back from ISP providers.
Creative work that exists in a tangible form is protected under U.S. copyright law once it has been registered. Books, commercial and fine art, logos, videos, and even computer software code are all protected expressions, and the takedown notice is an affordable way to circumvent litigation. If the party who infringed in intellectual property is anonymous, the notice to the ISP provider can also be used to subpoena them without litigating.
Creators must be sure that someone is infringing on their work before sending a takedown notice. If the content is substantially changed, others may have the right to publish it. An alleged infringer may be able to claim fair use, like when piece in question is the subject of a critique. The following are some of the issues that could complicate a takedown notice:
By hiring a DMCA takedown notice attorney, Boca Raton clients are shielded from notoriety when the notice concerns sensitive content, such as when an infringer posts explicit photos. Intellectual property attorneys are also familiar with the legal language necessary to avoid a denial, and how to identify where and to whom the notice should be sent.
When you find any of your creative work online without your consent, you are bound to be upset and anxious for it to be removed. Federal legislation affords you an inexpensive tool that does not unduly burden the ISP host either.
The takedown notice uses specific language to respectfully alert websites, social media sites, and any online forum that they are hosting copyrighted material, and it should be removed. You could avoid costly litigation by asking a Boca Raton DMCA takedown lawyer for help. Call the Lomnitzer Law team now to discuss your situation.
