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Guide

How to send a DMCA takedown notice

By the LeakVoid team Published Last reviewed

Send a short written notice to the site's designated agent or its host. It needs six things: your signature, the work that was copied, the exact link to each copy, your contact details, a good faith statement, and an accuracy statement under penalty of perjury. You can do it yourself, for free, without registering first. Not legal advice.

Someone posted your work without permission. The usual first step in the U.S. is a DMCA takedown notice: a short written message to the website (or the company hosting it) asking them to remove the copy. You can do this yourself, for free. This guide covers what the notice has to say, where it goes, and what to expect after you hit send.

What a takedown notice is

The DMCA is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Section 512 of the U.S. Copyright Act sets up what the Copyright Office calls the "notice-and-takedown system." Websites, hosts and search engines get legal protection if they remove infringing material when a copyright owner tells them about it properly. Your notice is how you tell them.

A few things worth knowing before you start:

  • You don't need to register your work first. The Copyright Office says: "A copyright registration is not required before sending a takedown notice." (Registration does matter later if you want to sue over a U.S. work.)
  • You don't need to hire anyone. In the Copyright Office's words, "You do not need to hire an attorney or anyone else to send a takedown notice." You can also authorize someone else, such as an attorney or a takedown company, to send it for you.
  • It has to be your work, or you need the owner's permission. Only the copyright owner (including someone who holds an exclusive right in the work), or someone authorized by the owner, can send one. If you took the photo or recorded the video yourself, you are likely the owner. If someone else took a photo of you, they most likely own it, even though you appear in it. That changes if they transferred the copyright to you in a signed writing, or if the law treats you as the author because the photo was a "work made for hire," for example because they made it as your employee. Check any contract you signed with the photographer. If you don't own it, a copyright notice may not be the right tool. The Copyright Office says other options may exist and suggests talking to a licensed attorney.

The six things your notice must include

The law lists six elements. Your notice needs "substantially" all of them, according to 17 U.S.C. 512(c)(3)(A). Here they are in plain words, with the law's own wording after each one.

  1. Your signature. Typed or handwritten both count. The law: "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. Which work of yours was copied. Name or link the original. If several of your works are on the same site, you can give a representative list. The law: "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. The exact copy you want removed, and where it is. Give the full link to each page with the copy, not just the site's home page. The law: "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. How to reach you. The law: "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 good faith statement. The law: "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. An accuracy statement, and a statement under penalty of perjury that you're authorized. 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."

Take care with element 3. If the site can't find the copy from what you sent, it can't act on it.

Before you send: check fair use and your own licenses

Element 5 says the use is not authorized by "the copyright owner, its agent, or the law." Fair use is part of the law. In Lenz v. Universal Music Corp., 815 F.3d 1145 (9th Cir. 2016), a federal appeals court held that "a copyright holder must consider the existence of fair use before sending a takedown notification under § 512(c)." That ruling binds only courts in the Ninth Circuit, which covers California and other western states. Courts elsewhere can follow it but don't have to. Wherever you are, consider fair use before you send. Commentary, criticism and news reporting can be fair use, and so can some reviews. A short, honest check before you send protects you.

Also check that you didn't license the use yourself. A promoter, collaborator or reseller you said yes to is generally not infringing, as long as they stay within what you agreed.

This matters because false notices carry risk. Under 17 U.S.C. 512(f), anyone who "knowingly materially misrepresents" that material is infringing can be liable for damages, "including costs and attorneys' fees." Google's own DMCA page gives the same warning and suggests talking to an attorney if you are not sure.

Where to send it

Send the notice to the website's designated DMCA agent. Here is how to find one:

  • Check the site itself. The Copyright Office says agent details are often in a site's Terms of Service, or you can search the site for "DMCA."
  • Search the Copyright Office directory. Sites that want the legal protection register an agent in the U.S. Copyright Office's DMCA Designated Agent Directory, which is public and searchable online.
  • Use the site's own form if it has one. The Copyright Office notes that some sites offer their own webforms, which "may result in a faster processing time."
  • Try the host. The Copyright Office says services that provide "caching, hosting, or linking services" and want the safe harbor must register an agent. So if a site ignores you, the company hosting it may have its own DMCA contact.
  • Ask search engines to drop the link. Search engines are linking services too. Google takes copyright requests through its legal help pages and asks for "the specific URL(s) of the content you want to report, as opposed to the link to the website's home page." Removing a search result does not delete the copy. Google itself notes "that content may still exist elsewhere on the web." Our guide to removing copies from Google Search covers this step.

A plain notice template

Copy this, fill in the brackets, and send it to the agent's email address or paste it into the site's form. It follows the six elements above. It is a starting point, not legal advice, and you are responsible for what you sign.

Subject: DMCA takedown notice

To: [Designated agent name or "DMCA Agent"], [Website or company name]

I am writing to report material on your service that infringes a
copyright. I am the copyright owner [or: I am authorized to act for
the copyright owner, (owner's name)].

1. My original work:
   [Describe the work, for example "a photo set I created and first published on (date)"]
   [Link to where the original is posted, if public]

2. The infringing material, and where it is:
   [Full URL of each page with the copy, one per line]
   [Optional: what is on the page, for example "the second image on the page"]

3. My contact information:
   Name: [Your name. Some platforms require your full legal name]
   Address: [A mailing address where you really get mail]
   Phone: [Phone]
   Email: [An email address you check]

4. I have 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.

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

Signature: [Type your name, for example /s/ followed by your name]
Date: [Date]

Tips that save time:

  • One link per line. Link to the exact page, not the site's front page.
  • Keep copies. Save a screenshot of each page with the address bar showing, and keep a copy of every notice you send.
  • Think about the name and contact details you use. The law asks for the signature of the owner or someone authorized to act for the owner, and contact details "reasonably sufficient" for the site to reach you. It doesn't say the name must be your legal name. But some platforms ask for one. YouTube, for example, asks for your "full legal name" as your signature and says it may share it with the uploader. Meta says it regularly gives the poster the rights owner's name and the reporter's email, and suggests "a valid generic business or professional email." Google says it may forward notices to Lumen, a nonprofit that publishes them "after removing certain personal information." So the name on your notice may become public.
  • A business address or email is fine if it reaches you. Use contact details you actually check, because the site and sometimes the poster will use them. Whatever name and details you give, everything in the notice must be true, because you sign parts of it under penalty of perjury.
  • You can use someone else to send it. If you would rather not send it yourself, you can authorize an attorney or a takedown service to send the notice for you. Your name as the copyright owner may still appear in the notice.
  • If you made a mistake, withdraw it. If you find that a notice was wrong, write to the same place you sent it, say which notice and links you are withdrawing, and say the site may restore the material. The law has no formal withdrawal step, so the site decides what happens next. Some platforms have their own process. YouTube, for example, lets you retract a removal request. Withdrawing doesn't erase the notice, but doing it quickly shows good faith.

What happens after you send it

  • The site may remove the copy. To keep its legal protection, a site that gets a proper notice must respond "expeditiously" to remove the material or disable access to it. The Copyright Office says what counts as expeditious "will depend on the type and size" of the service. There is no fixed deadline.
  • The person who posted it is usually told. The Copyright Office says the service "must then promptly notify the user that originally uploaded the material."
  • They can push back. If the poster believes the removal was a mistake, they can send a counter-notice, and the site may put the content back 10 to 14 business days after it receives the counter-notice, unless you file a court action and tell the site first. Read what a counter-notice means for you.
  • Some sites won't act at all. The Copyright Office is blunt about this: a service "regardless of where it is hosted, is never obligated to comply with a takedown notice." Sites outside the U.S. may ignore you. Nobody can promise every copy comes down.
  • Copies can come back. A new upload is a new copy, and it needs its own notice.

The paperwork is the hard part

One notice is manageable. Writing a notice for every copy and sending each one is where it gets heavy.

LeakVoid is being built for that part. You send it links to copies of your work and it drafts the notices. You review the new ones and sign the ones you want sent. LeakVoid sends them for you and shows whether each link is still up. If someone sends a counter-notice, LeakVoid pauses that item and forwards it to you. No notice goes out without your signature. LeakVoid doesn't give legal advice or promise removal.

LeakVoid is open. See how it works or get started.

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Sources

All checked Fri 2026-10-23.

  1. 1. 17 U.S.C. 512, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/512 (subsections (c)(3), (d), (f)) (cross-check copy)
  2. 1A. 17 U.S.C. 512, United States Code, 2024 Edition, U.S. Government Publishing Office (official text, used for every statute quote): https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title17/html/USCODE-2024-title17-chap5-sec512.htm
  3. 2. U.S. Copyright Office, "Section 512 of Title 17: Resources on Online Service Provider Safe Harbors and Notice-and-Takedown System": https://www.copyright.gov/512/
  4. 3. U.S. Copyright Office, DMCA Designated Agent Directory: https://www.copyright.gov/dmca-directory/
  5. 4. Google, "Digital Millennium Copyright Act" (Legal Help): https://support.google.com/legal/answer/1120734
  6. 5. Google, "Report Content for Legal Reasons" (Legal Help): https://support.google.com/legal/answer/3110420
  7. 6. Lenz v. Universal Music Corp., Nos. 13-16106 and 13-16107 (9th Cir.), order and amended opinion filed March 17, 2016: https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2016/03/17/13-16106.pdf
  8. 7. YouTube Help, "Submit a copyright removal request" (full legal name as signature; may be shared with the uploader): https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2807622
  9. 8. YouTube Help, "Retract a copyright removal request": https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2807691
  10. 9. Meta Help Center, "How copyright works at Meta" (rights owner's name and reporter's email given to the poster; generic business email suggested; withdrawn reports): https://www.meta.com/help/policies/2202628709913826/
  11. 10. 17 U.S.C. 201(a), (b), (d) and 204(a), United States Code, 2024 Edition (ownership, works made for hire, transfers in a signed writing): https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title17/html/USCODE-2024-title17-chap2-sec201.htm and https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title17/html/USCODE-2024-title17-chap2-sec204.htm

How this page is made

This guide's facts were checked against the sources listed above as of the "Last reviewed" date at the top of the page, and those sources may have changed since. This is a check against sources, not a legal review. It has no person byline. Our editorial policy explains how guides are made, sourced, checked and corrected. If you find a mistake, write to hello@leakvoid.com.

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