Consequences of posting copyright-infringing content
Leads to immediate termination of an account, and possibly monetary damages if a copyright owner pursues litigation. The following guidelines are published to help you determine if your content is legitimate or infringes upon another’s copyright.

1. If you create something that is original than you probably own it. Make sure that all of the elements of your content are original.

2. Do not make copies of copyright-protected content. The most common cause of copyright infringement is when direct copies of content owned by another are posted without the original owner’s permission. Once the original owner alerts us to the copyright infringement we are legally bound to remove the unauthorized content.

3. Ensure the content does not infringe upon another’s copyrights by obtaining permission from the original owner for the content.

4. Commercial Content Is Copyright-Protected. It doesn’t matter whether or not you give credit to the owner/author/songwriter/creator and are not profiting from the content, the content does not contain a copyright notice embedded in the content, nor may it be part of a collage because the content is still protected by copyright.

Using some copyright-protected content
While pictures that are direct copies of someone else’s content are clear copyright violations, there are certain very limited circumstances in which the use may be legal even without permission. This is known as the “fair use” principle of copyright law. If you would like to learn more about the principle of fair use, below are a few links to websites that discuss it. Please remember, however, that your decision about whether and how to exercise your fair use rights is solely yours, and we bear no responsibility for your decision.

Fair Use Links on the Web
http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html
http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/chapter9/
http://www.copyrightwebsite.com/Info/Law/FairUse.aspx
http://chillingeffects.org/fairuse/

Uploading infringing content
Anytime we become aware that a picture or any part of the content on the platform infringes upon copyrights of a third party, we will take it down from the platform. We are legally required to do so. If you believe that a picture on the site infringes upon your copyright, send us a copyright notice and we will take it down. If you believe that we have removed a picture that you uploaded in error and that you are the copyright owner or have permission, you can file a counter notice and let us know. If you repeatedly post infringing content, we must legally terminate your use of the platform.

File a copyright infringement notification
Send a written DMCA take down communication that includes the following (please consult your legal counsel or see Section 512(c)(3) of the Copyright Act to confirm these requirements):
A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

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.
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. Providing URLs in the body of an email is the best way to help us locate content quickly.
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.

A statement 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.

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.

Such written notice should be emailed (attachments are fine) to our designated agent as follows:

To: [email protected]

Subject: DMCA Take Down

Use the below template as your guide (optional)

DMCA Take Down Notice Date:
Name:
Address:
Phone:
Email:

My name is [Insert Name] and I am the [Insert Title] of [Insert Company Name]. A website hosted by Main Stream Media is infringing on at least one copyright owned by myself/company.

An asset was uploaded to your servers without permission. The original asset, to which we own the exclusive copyrights, can be found at:

PROVIDE WEBSITE URL HERE:

The unauthorized and infringing asset(s) can be found at:

PROVIDE URL(s)

This letter is official notification under Section 512(c) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”), and I seek the removal of the aforementioned infringing material from your website. I request that you immediately notify the infringer of this notice and inform them of their duty to remove the infringing material immediately and notify them to cease any further posting of infringing material to your website in the future.

Please also be advised that law requires you, as a service provider, to remove or disable access to the infringing materials upon receiving this notice. Under US law a service provider, such as yourself, enjoys immunity from a copyright lawsuit provided that you act with deliberate speed to investigate and remove the aforementioned material from your website.

I am providing this notice in good faith and with the reasonable belief that rights my company owns (I own) are being infringed. Under penalty of perjury I certify that the information contained in the notification is both true and accurate, and I have the authority to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright(s) involved.

Should you wish to discuss this with me please contact me directly. Thank you.

[Insert Name]

_________________________________________________________________
Counter-Notification
Please note that under Section 512(f) of the Copyright Act, any person who knowingly materially misrepresents that material or activity was removed or disabled by mistake or misidentification may be subject to liability. Please also be advised that we enforce a policy that provides for the termination in appropriate circumstances of subscribers who are repeat infringers.

A Note About Content
Like the majority of you, we’re huge fans of the Internet. We love sharing hilarious things that we happen to come across, which is partially why we created this site. The problem with the Internet is how content is passed around so much that it can often be hard to figure out where the original credit is due. We do our best to try and track down the original source, but again, sometimes a piece of content has been circulated to the point where it becomes impossible. That all being said, we’re firm believers in credit being appropriately given wherever it is deserved. We never crop out credit or add credit from this platform on anything we share. If there is something you see on our platform that you created and is not properly credited to you, please let us know. Your content should be properly credited. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people out there who could care less or prefer to claim something as their own, and as it gets shared correct ownership gets lost in the passing of the content. If something of yours ends up here without proper credit, we would like to fix that. Send us any links and any other information you would like us to add to the piece of content. If you prefer we take it down, we’re happy to do that instead.