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Copyright Law Explained

When to Send a DMCA Takedown Notice

Before sending a DMCA takedown notice the copyright owner should conduct a thorough, good faith investigation of the infringing activity to ensure that one or more of the copyright owner’s rights is being infringed and that no exception or limitation, such as fair use, is applicable. Copyright owners should only use the DMCA takedown process for the purpose that it was intended – to remove infringing material off the internet – and not use this process for non-copyright related reasons, such as to remove non-infringing criticisms of the copyright owner or copyrighted work or to remove trademark infringements.

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