What a valid DMCA notice contains

When a site in the United States hosts a copy of your work, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act gives you a direct route: a notice to the host's designated agent. The host keeps its safe harbour only if it removes the material quickly. That pressure works in your favour, provided the notice is complete.

The six required elements

Section 512(c)(3) of the Copyright Act lists them:

1. A signature, physical or electronic, of the owner or someone authorised to act for them. A typed full name counts.
2. The work being infringed. Name it and link to the original where you can.
3. The infringing material, with enough detail to find it: exact URLs, not "their whole site".
4. Your contact details: address, phone and email.
5. A good-faith statement that the use is not authorised by you, your agent or the law.
6. An accuracy statement, made under penalty of perjury, that you own the right or are authorised to act for the owner.

Wording that holds up

I have a good faith belief that use of the material described above is not authorised by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law. The information in this notice is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, I am the owner, or authorised to act on behalf of the owner, of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Before you send it

• Find the right inbox. The US Copyright Office keeps a public directory of designated agents.
• Consider fair use first. Courts have held that senders must weigh it before claiming infringement, and section 512(f) makes a sender liable for knowing misrepresentation.
• Expect a counter-notice in some cases. If the uploader sends one, the host may restore the material within 10 to 14 business days unless you file suit.

Make your own agent easy to find

If you run a platform, register a designated agent with the Copyright Office and publish the contact on your site. Each company page in our register has a field for exactly this.

This article is general information, not legal advice for your situation.