Guide · DMCA notices
DMCA takedown notices: what a valid one contains
When someone reposts your own photos or videos without permission, the copyright owner, or a person authorized to act for them, can send a takedown notice under 17 U.S.C. § 512. The law lists six things the notice must include. It is a legal statement made under penalty of perjury, so it should only cover work you own.
Last reviewed · Official sources checked
Before you start
What to have ready. Keep private images and files with you: none of these requests asks you to send them to us.
- The original work, identified clearly enough for the site to match it: where you published it, or a description.
- The exact web address of each copy you want taken down.
- Your address, phone number, and email address, which go in the notice.
- The site’s designated agent, from the site itself or the U.S. Copyright Office’s directory. For Google products, Google’s legal request tool.
- A good-faith belief that the use is not authorized by you, your agent, or the law. The notice says so under penalty of perjury.
The six parts of a notice, from § 512(c)(3)
- A physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or of a person authorized to act for them.
- Identification of the copyrighted work. For several works on one site, a representative list is allowed.
- Identification of the material you say is infringing, with information reasonably sufficient for the service to locate it, such as the web addresses.
- Your contact information: an address, a phone number, and an email address if you have one.
- A statement that you believe in good faith that the use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
- A statement that the information in the notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you are authorized to act for the owner.
If a notice is incomplete
Under § 512(c)(3)(B), a notice that does not substantially comply does not count toward showing that the service knew about the infringement. But if it substantially covers the work, the material and its location, and your contact details, the service is expected to try to contact you to get a complete notice.
Where to send it
- To the service’s designated agent. The U.S. Copyright Office keeps a public directory of the agents that services, including search engines, designate to receive these notices.
- For Google products, through Google’s legal removal request tool. Google says it may send a copy of notices to Lumen, a nonprofit that publishes them after removing certain personal information, so plan for your notice to be seen.
What Google says it does with a notice
- Google says it responds to clear notices of alleged infringement, and may remove or disable access to the material.
- If it acts, Google says it may try to notify the person accused of infringing, or the operator of the affected site.
- Google says it terminates repeat infringers when the circumstances warrant it.
What can happen next
The person who posted the material can send a counter notice. Under § 512(g)(3) it needs their signature, a description of what was removed and where it was, a statement under penalty of perjury that they believe in good faith it was removed by mistake or misidentification, and their contact details with consent to the court’s jurisdiction.
Under § 512(g)(2), the service then puts the material back between 10 and 14 business days after receiving the counter notice, unless its designated agent first hears from you that you have filed a court action.
Only for work you own
Under § 512(f), a person who knowingly and materially misrepresents that material is infringing can be liable for damages, including costs and attorneys’ fees. Google’s page makes the same warning. This guide explains the law’s text; it is not legal advice, and we are not a law firm.
Questions
- What does a DMCA takedown notice have to include?
- Six parts, listed in 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3): a signature, the work, the infringing material and where it is, your contact information, a good-faith statement that the use is not authorized, and a statement that the notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you may act for the owner.
- What if my notice is missing something?
- Under § 512(c)(3)(B), if it still substantially covers the work, the material and its location, and your contact details, the service is expected to try to contact you to complete it.
- Will the person who posted it find out?
- Google says that if it acts on a notice, it may try to notify the person accused of infringing or the site’s operator, and that it may send a copy of the notice to Lumen, which publishes notices after removing certain personal information.
- Can they get the content put back?
- They can send a counter notice. Under § 512(g)(2), the service then restores the material 10 to 14 business days after receiving it, unless you tell its designated agent first that you have filed a court action.
- Can I send a notice for a copy of someone else’s work?
- Only if you are authorized to act for the owner. Under § 512(f), knowingly and materially misrepresenting that material is infringing can make you liable for damages, including costs and attorneys’ fees.
When doing it yourself is not enough
When copies keep coming back across several sites, our creator page describes a second review for the ones that are still up.
We are an independent removal agency, not the platform and not a law firm. The platform, search engine, or court makes the decision.
Official sources
Every fact above comes from these pages, read on September 30, 2026. Platforms change their forms; if a step looks different, the official page is the one to follow.