DCMA Policy and Claims Handling

What is DMCA?

"The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or services intended to circumvent measures (commonly known as digital rights management or DRM) that control access to copyrighted works. It also criminalizes the act of circumventing an access control, whether or not there is actual infringement of copyright itself. In addition, the DMCA heightens the penalties for copyright infringement on the Internet." - ref Wikipedia

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act provides a process for a copyright owner to give notification to a service provider, and for the service provider to respond, and for the alleged infringer to counter-notify, regarding the claimant's concern for alleged copyright infringement. When a valid DMCA notification is received, the service provider responds under this process by taking down the offending content. The alleged infringer may then make a counter claim. The links below to external content can help with understanding the DMCA and copyright, in general.

PDF file - the Digital Millennium Copyright Act: http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/hr2281.pdf
PDF file - Summary of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (1998): http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf
About Copyright: http://www.copyright.gov
More on Copyright: http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html
Stanford University Subdomain devoted to Fair Use Questions and Policy: http://fairuse.stanford.edu/

Traffic Moola response to DMCA Claims.

Traffic Moola ("TrafficMoola") will respond to allegations of copyright violations in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

On taking down content under the DMCA, we will take reasonable steps to contact the owner of the removed content so that a counter-notification may be filed. On receiving a valid counter-notification, we may restore the content in question, unless we receive notice from the notification provider that a legal action has been filed seeking a court order to restrain the alleged infringer from engaging in the infringing activity.

If TrafficMoola believes that a user of TrafficMoola is continually abusing the DMCA process, either with filings that appear to be without basis, or by continually re-posting content that is the subject of valid DMCA notifications, we may exercise our right to terminate the abusing party's account. (See Terms of Use.)

Please note that these notifications and counter-notifications are legal notices provided outside of the normal TrafficMoola environment. TrafficMoola may provide copies of such notices to the participants in the dispute or third parties, at our discretion and as required by law - the privacy policy for TrafficMoola does not protect information provided in these notices. In fact, note that your filings may be made public through the DMCA process, itself, unrelated to TrafficMoola's own actions.

Filing a Notification. Important.

A written notification must be made. This can be done either by fax or written letter (regular mail or courier). Emails will not be accepted unless a prior arrangement has been made. We also have a form on the web site, where your electronic signature stands in for your real signature. The notification must:

Identify in sufficient detail the copyrighted work that you believe has been infringed upon (i.e., describe the work that you own).
Identify the item that you claim is infringing on your copyright, and provide information reasonably sufficient to locate the item. For example the URL of the web page on which the item appears, and the column or location on that specific page.
Provide a reasonably sufficient method of contacting you; both phone number and email address is preferred.
(Optional) Provide information, if possible, sufficient to permit us to notify the user(s) who posted the content that allegedly contains infringing material. You may also provide screenshots or other materials that are helpful to identify the works in question. (This is for identification only, not to "prove" substantive claims.)
Include the following statement: "I have good faith belief that the use of the copyrighted materials described above and contained on the service is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or by protection of law."
Include the following statement: "I swear, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification is accurate and that I am the copyright owner or am authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed."
Sign the paper with your full, complete legal name.

Please note: The DMCA provides that you may be liable for damages (including costs and attorneys fees) if you falsely claim that an item is infringing your copyrights. We recommend contacting an attorney if you are unsure whether an object is protected by copyright laws.

Send the written document to the designated DMCA Department at Traffic Moola:

contact

Alternatively, use the "DMCA CLAIM" form below.

Filing a Counter-Notification. Important.

List the items that were removed by the TrafficMoola administrators, and the location at which the material appeared before it was removed. Please identify the object in sufficient detail, and when possible, the item id; for example, the advertisement id, if an ad is in question.
Provide your name, address, telephone number, email address (if available), and user name for Traffic Moola properties.
Include this statement, exactly: "I consent to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court for the district in which my address is located, or if my address is outside of the United States, the judicial district in which Traffic Moola is located, and will accept service of process from the claimant."
Include this statement, exactly: "I will accept service of process from the person who provided notification to TrafficMoola of the alleged infringement, or an agent of such person."
Include this statement, exactly: "I swear, under penalty of perjury, that I have a good faith belief that the material identified above was removed or disabled as a result of a mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled."
Sign the paper with your full, complete legal name, or type your full complete legal name into the electronic form submitted from this Site.

Understand that filing a counter-notification may lead to legal proceedings between you and the complaining party to determine ownership. This is part of the DMCA ajudication system. Be aware that there may be adverse legal consequences in your country, if you make a false or bad faith allegation by using this process. If you are unsure whether certain material that you have posted or used infringes the copyrights of others, we strongly suggest that you contact a lawyer before filing a counter claim.

Send the written document to the designated DMCA Department at Traffic Moola:

contact

Alternatively, use the "COUNTER-CLAIM" form below.

Data Requested for Claims/Counter Claims.

Follow instructions precisely, including only the information, enumerated above, and not omitting any item. Inclusion of any information beyond the specifically required information and optional information listed above could significantly impede review of your notification.

The "sworn" statements are required by the DMCA. Notices without these will be ignored as non-legal notices.

Notices that are not signed by a real legal person will be ignored. The DMCA process is a legal process with ramifications.

TrafficMoola does not have the power to change requirements, or congressional acts, like the DMCA.

The liability for damages for false claims is a provision of the DMCA. Note that these damages and legal fees can be significant.

Determine of Claim/Counter Claim Outcome.

TrafficMoola does not adjudicate the substance of the copyright claim: we do not declare "winners" and "losers". The DMCA process allows users of an online service to resolve copyright disputes using the adjudication systems as outlined in the DMCA. See section, Traffic Moola response to DMCA Claims.

TrafficMoola cannot provide legal advice to you. If you are uncertain about any legal issues, you are well-advised to obtain the services of a competent legal professional proficient in copyright law.

DMCA Claim Form (electronic format).

Identification of Copyrighted Works and Owner

My copyrighted work at issue is: (select all applicable)

My copyrighted work may be found at the following specific URL, where I control the work posted:

My legal name is:

My contact email is:

My street address is:

My street city is:

My street state is:

My street zipcode is:

Identification of Offending Works and Alleged Infringer

The offending work containing my copyrighted work is: (select all applicable)

The offending work containing my copyrighted work may be found at the following specific URL, where I do NOT control the work posted:

Contact information for the offending party (if known):

URL containing contact information for the offending party (if known):

I have a good faith belief that use of the copyrighted materials described above on the allegedly infringing web pages is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.

I swear, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification is accurate and that I am the copyright owner or am authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Dated: (format only as YYYY-MM-DD)

Signed:

Section 512(f) of the Copyright Act says that any person who knowingly materially misrepresents that material or activity is infringing may be subject to liability for damages. Do NOT make false claims!

What Happens Next?

See Traffic Moola response to DMCA Claims.

If the person against whom you complained makes a DMCA counter-notification, you have ten (10) business days in which to notify us that you have filed a court action to prevent the person or entity from the infringing activity, related to their posts or advertising delivered by TrafficMoola. In this case their content will not be restored. Otherwise, their content may or may not be restored.

DMCA Counter-Notification Form (electronic format).

Unless you own ALL the necessary rights to your text, image, sound, and video (includes all elements of a video or graphic), then filing a counter-notification may not be appropriate. You may instead be better served by contacting the owner of the content directly and requesting a retraction. TrafficMoola honors retractions if we can validate that they came from the same source as the original notification.

Identification of Disabled Works

The disabled work is: (select all applicable)

The disputed work was disabled on the following URL:

My legal name is:

My contact email is:

My street address is:

My street city is:

My street state is:

My street zipcode is:

Short counter response to copyright claim: (200 characters, max)

Counter-Claimant Statement

I will accept service of process from the person who provided notification to TrafficMoola of the alleged infringement, or an agent of such person.

I swear, under penalty of perjury, that I have a good faith belief that the material identified above was removed or disabled as a result of a mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled.

Dated: (format only as YYYY-MM-DD)

Signed:

What Happens Next?

See Traffic Moola response to DMCA Claims.

If TrafficMoola receives a counter-notification and confirms that all the fields are submitted and valid, we will forward it to the party who submitted the original DMCA claim against your use of their copyrighted material. Understand that when TrafficMoola forwards your counter-notification, as per the DMCA, it includes your personal information that you provided in the notice. Therefore, in submitting a counter-notification, you hereby consent and agree to having your information revealed in such a way. Your counter-notification will not be forwarded to another party other than the original claimant, or their legal agents, upon request.

Once we send out your counter-notification to the claimant, the claimant has ten (10) business days in which to notify us that he or she has filed or is seeking a court action to prevent you from infringing activity, related to your posts in TrafficMoola or use of the network with regards to the claimed material.

If in fact we receive such notification, TrafficMoola will be unable to restore the material. Your only remedy is through the court or negotiation with the claimant. On the other hand, if TrafficMoola does not receive such notification within the 10 business days allowed, we may or may not reinstate the material; but are in no way obligated to reinstate it.

Retraction

Note, we must be able to validate that retraction comes from the initiating party for the DMCA Notification. The retraction email contact and digitally signed name must be the exact email contact and full legal name as appeared on the initial DMCA notification submitted. If the party cannot be positively verified, then the retraction will be ignored as invalid.

Retraction by Content Owner
- Retraction of Claim for Improper Use of Copyrighted Works
  My copyrighted work specified in the claim (URL):
  
  My contact email is:
  
  I hereby retract my claim of copyright infringement.
  
  Dated: (format only as YYYY-MM-DD)
  
  Signed:
Retraction Request by Person Affected by the DMCA Claim
- The DMCA Notification forwarded to you, originally, by TrafficMoola, contains the contact information for the person or company asserting copyright claim over the specified material.
- You may contact the person directly to state your case and request that they submit a retraction. If they submit a retraction that we can validate as being from the same person who submitted the complaint, then TrafficMoola can allow your post or use of the material through the network.