Due to the fact that this website allows the posting of content by members of the Internet community, the law requires that I follow certain procedures in dealing with any claims of copyright infringement that might arise from postings in comment threads. This page sets out the policies followed here for dealing with such claims.

The Policy

Stated clearly, it is my policy to respond to claims of intellectual property infringement by others on this site according to the terms of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, Title 17 U.S.C. 512(c), and all other applicable copyright and intellectual property laws. Pursuant to the DMCA, notifications of claimed infringement of copyright should be sent to the Designated Agent for this site, myself, at the following contact locations:

A copy of the Designated Agent form, submitted to the Copyright Office on May 11, 2000, is also available (in Portable Document Format); the copy scanned in by the Copyright Office is available as well (also in PDF format).

How to Claim an Infringement

Now, how do you report an infringement of copyright? According to the DMCA, a notice of claimed infringement must contain the following in order to be legally effective:

1. A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site.
3. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to locate the material.
4. Information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail address at which the complaining party may be contacted.
5. A statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
6. A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

More Information

The Copyright Office has a set of pages that explain more about the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, and what website operators must do in order to limit their liability in cases of other individuals’ copyright infringement.