Justyna Dorsz

DMCA

DMCA takedown notice – form vs. email

My artwork is stolen so often that I need to send thousands of DMCA takedown notices each year.

To make the process as fast as possible, I use email templates. But most websites prefer to receive takedown notices via their forms. For example, every time I email a takedown notice to Etsy I receive an email asking me to submit future notices via their form.

Do they not realize that their form takes a few minutes to fill? Sending an email takes just a few seconds. I don’t want to waste my time filling out forms. I prefer to send emails wherever possible.

I can understand that Etsy prefers to receive filled out forms. They are easier to process. But I calculated that if I keep sending forms to Etsy, I will waste over a day of my life per year. And that’s just on Etsy. There are many more websites that I need to send takedown notices to.

If you need to send takedown notices, send them via email, instead of via form. Don’t waste more time than you need to.

Etsy accepts fake DMCA counter notices

The problem is:

  1. Someone is selling my art illegally on Etsy.
  2. So I file a DMCA takedown notice.
  3. Then Etsy removes the listings that I reported.
  4. But sometimes the infringers file fake counter notices, claiming that they have the rights to sell my designs.
  5. Etsy accepts those fake notices and restores the illegal listings.

I don’t yet know how to deal with this — I will need to consult my attorneys. Etsy is clearly accepting fake counter even though the notices are clearly not valid — for example, they don’t contain an address.

I don’t have a solution for this issue yet. I am simply writing it here to rise awareness. I know other must be facing the same problem.

How to protect your art

If you create designs and submit them to online stores like Redbubble or Teepublic, you will soon find out that there are a lot of thieves. They will steal your designs and try to sell them in their own stores.

Luckily, there’s an easy way to deal with them. You have to send a Notice of Copyright Infringement (or DMCA Notice) to the website that stolen images are sold on.

So, let’s say you notice your art being sold without your permission in someone else’s store. All stores have dedicated email addresses for reporting copyright infringement.

You can find how to write a notice of copyright infringement on the Internet so I won’t repeat that here. But I will show you the template that I use for reporting stolen art. You can copy it, supply your links where indicated, and send it.

My DMCA Template

Hello,

<–Short intoduction, e.g.: My name is…, My website/porfolio … –>

The material being infringed upon:

<—Here you provide the title of your artwork that was stolen and a link to your design online, it can be on your website, or any of your stores. –>

The material that is infringing upon my intellectual property:

<— Here you provide links where your design is sold illegally –>

My data:

<–Your full name –>

<–Your address –>

<–Your phone number –>

<–Your e-mail address –>

I have a good faith belief that the content described above violates my rights described above, and that the use of such content is contrary to law.

I declare, under penalty of perjury, that the information contained in this notification is correct and accurate and that I am the owner of the rights described above.

Best regards,

<– Your full name –>

End of DMCA Template