How to Make a DMCA Take Down Notice

On forums where you can publish your own work for comment and discussion and a profanity or a perceived violation of the forum's Terms of Service or dispute gets your access disabled before you can make changes or delete your comments, while at the same time your work and comments continue to be published and are still accessible without your ability to make a change then it may become necessary to exercise your legal rights and demand that the page, including your comments and all links be deleted.

Such measures might not be necessary if the site allows you to make corrections or deletions after the fact or does not permanently disable access to your work or comments. Unfortunately, many sites deny access after the fact completely and forever as a penalty for being BAD.

Here then is the means to address a situation in which you want to delete your material and comments but the site has disabled your access. A DMCA Take Down notice includes copies in "unpublished" sections where other users can continue to post comments and replies and receive links to your material by email, even though the material is in the "unpublished" section. Sites must comply in deed and not just words or suffer the consequences of their resulting copyright violation.

Step 1: Gathering the Necessary Information

First you will need the name and address, email or fax number of the site's designated DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998) agent. In most cases this information has been provided in the sites Terms of Service agreement.

The name of the Instructables DMCA agent for instance is:

Eric Wilhelm
Instructables, Inc.
1467 Park Ave
Emeryville, CA 94608
[e-mail]
510-653-1643

Normally the phone number which is provided for the DMCA agent is a fax number, but if it is not then you can send a certified letter to the snail mail address. Note that a picture is not necessary, although a likeness or avatar might help the site's staff connect the name with the person...

Step 2: Next, You Will Need the Name and Address of the Complaining Party.

Under the DMCA provisions it is necessary that the complaining party identify themselves. The complaintant need not be the owner of the copyrighted material but must have the owner's authorization, so the next thing you will need is the name and address of the person who is authorized to make the DMCA complaint. If you are the owner then naturally you are authorized, but you do not have to be an attorney.

You will need to have the following information:

Complainant Forum User Name:_______________________________
Complainant Real Name:_______________________________
Complainant Address:_____________________________
Complainant City:_____________________________
Complainant State:_________________________________
Complainant Zip or Postal code:__________________________
Complainant Country:____________________________________

Its also good to provide a voice and fax number, email and URL, in addition to any other available contact information .

Step 3: Next, You Will Need to Provide the Location of the Infringed Material.

Using the "Make Your Own Shuriken Throwing Stars Our of Paper, CD's, Wood, and Super Sharp Metal" as a publication example (because one of its keywords is a bad, bad, bad word) copy and paste the https://www.instructables.com/id/EYBI2ECVXUERIE21QL/path to a text editor to save it for later use. This is just an example so put the path to the actual publication you want deleted in its place.

Next, copy and paste the title of the publication: "Make Your Own Shuriken Throwing Stars Our of Paper, CD's, Wood, and Super Sharp Metal" and save it too. Be sure its the actual title of the publication you want deleted and not the title of this example by mistake.

This is just an example so stay cool and don't get all bent all out of shape if you are the publication's owner.

Step 4: Next, Its Just a Matter of Filling in the Template With the Right Stuff.

To the Instructables, Inc. designated agent to receive notification of claimed infringement under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act OF 1998 ("DMCA"):

Eric Wilhelm
Instructables, Inc.
1467 Park Ave
Emeryville, CA 94608
[e-mail]
510-653-1643 Instructables

Web Site Take Down Notice

The complainant herein provides notice to the Instructables, Inc. in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to remove or disable access to the web pages listed below:

1.) Name, address, and electronic signature of the complaining party [512(c)(3)(A)(i)]

1.a) <REAL NAME AND ADDRESS OF COMPLAINANT HERE>

1.b) <INSTRUCTABLES USER NAME HERE>

2.) The infringing materials and their Internet location [512(c)(3)(A)(ii-iii)], or if the service provider is an "information location tool" such as a search engine, the reference or link to the infringing materials [512(d)(3)].

2.a) <https://www.instructables.com/id/<INSTRUCTABLES USER PUBLICATION ID>/

3.) Sufficient information to identify the copyrighted works [512(c)(3)(A)(iv)].

3.a.) <INSTRUCTABLES USER PUBLICATION NAME>

4.) Statement by the owner that he has a good faith belief that there is no legal basis for the use of the materials complained of [512(c)(3)(A)(v)].

4.a) I belief that the Instructables has no legal basis for use of the materials cited above. - <COMPLAINANT REAL NAME>

5.) A statement of the accuracy of the notice and, under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on the behalf of the owner [512(c)(3)(A)(vi)].

5.a) The information contained herein is accurate. I am authorized by the author and owner of the above cited material to make this complaint. - <COMPLAINANT REAL NAME>

The Instructables, Inc. is hereafter required to expeditiously remove, or disable access to the material.

What goes where:

Step 5: Next, Fax or Certify Mail a Copy to the DMCA Designated Agent.

If your material is not removed immediately or within a few days or even within 10 days then the site probably figures you won't bother with pursuing litigation. However, don't sweat it if they ignore your notice. Just consult a good intellectual property attorney (usually the most aggressive will be working for a competing web site) and open a bank account in preparation for making a large settlement deposit.