Two methods to report violations of the Terms of Use of the DMCA Website Protection Badge:

  1. complete our online form www.dmca.com/submit_abuse
  2. Email DMCA.com directly protectionpro@dmca.com

Abuse examples of the DMCA Website Protection Badge would be:

  1. when the DMCA Website Protection Badge is used to protect (copyright) content, published on a webpage without the permission of the (copyright) owner
  2. when the DMCA Website Protection Badge is used to protect content which is illegal in the jurisdiction of the website owner, the content owner or the copyright owner

Who can report abuse?

As part of DMCA.com's global Protection Badge Terms and Conditions:

  1. content owners that find their infringed content protected by the DMCA.com Protection Badge and Certificate
  2. content owners that find the DMCA.com Protection Badge and Certificate is used on a website which is hosting content illegal in the jurisdiction of the website owner, the content owner, the copyright owner or DMCA.com
  3. internet users that find the DMCA.com Protection Badge and Certificate is used on a website which is hosting content or contains content illegal in the jurisdiction of the website owner, the content owner, the copyright owner or DMCA.com or in contravention of DMCA.com's Terms and Conditions

This list an others may request DMCA.com to contact the Protection Badge and Certificate user on their behalf. Should the Protection Badge and Certificate user not respond as per the DMCA Process, DMCA.com reserves the right to stop delivery of the certificate and mark it "unauthorized".


DMCA.com's Role in the Abuse Reporting Process

DMCA.com is unable under law to arbitrate claims of ownership of content. DMCA.com is a platform that offers tools and solutions to help content owners protect and enforce their content. There are established processes under law to dispute the illegal hosting of content. Where possible DMCA.com follows those processes. The abuse reporting process as described here and in the DMCA .com Terms and Conditions of Use of the Protection Badge helps expedite the DMCA dispute mechanism process for both parties.

EXCEPTION DMCA.com will act unilaterally to remove the DMCA.com Protection Badge and Certificate being used on websites DMCA.com finds in contradiction to DMCA.com Terms and Conditions of Use.

Abuse Reporting Process:

  1. Internet users that find the DMCA.com Protection Badge and Certificate being used in contravention of the Terms and Conditions of Use of the Protection Badge may report this misuse directly:
    1. protectionpro@dmca.com or
    2. www.dmca.com/submit_abuse.
    DMCA.com shall follow up on the report of abuse.
  2. Follow up on abuse claims may include:
    1. confirming the DMCA.com Protection Badge and Certificate referenced in the abuse claim is active
    2. confirming the DMCA.com Protection Badge and Certificate referenced in the abuse claim is a registered user of DMCA.com
    3. contacting by email the owner of the DMCA.com Protection Badge and Certificate referenced in the abuse claim and advising them of receipt of abuse claim
    4. providing standard takedown agency service for a fee to the abuse claimant to process a takedown notice to remove infringed content as applicable. Should the owner of the DMCA.com Protection Badge and Certificate referenced in the abuse claim and subsequent notice not be in compliance of the takedown process, DMCA.com may set the protection status certificate "unauthorized".
    5. Note: Under law, this takedown service must be a standard paid takedown service.
    6. directly contacting the owner of the website where the DMCA.com Protection Badge and Certificate is found to be in contravention of the Protection Badge Terms of Service. Should the owner of the website not respond DMCA.com may set the protection status certificate "unauthorized".
    7. Further, if upon review of the website DMCA.com find the badge and status certificate to be used in contravention of the Terms and Conditions of Use of the DMCA Protection Badge DMCA.com will list the status certificate page as "unauthorized" and ban the website from further using DMCA.com services.
    8. As part of the DMCA Abuse Reporting Process contained within the DMCA.com's global Protection Badge Terms and Conditions of Use, when contacted on an abuse complaint the Protection Badge and Certificate user must respond. If they do not, DMCA.com reserves the right to stop delivery of the website certificate and mark it "unauthorized".

    Other important links:

    1. Protection Badge Terms and Conditions
    2. What does "Unauthorized" status mean?

Modified: 11/23/2021
Category: Frequently Asked Question
By: Mr. DMCA Helper
FAQ ID:d7fb18ac-f8ac-4b5c-9e46-91b7b1153af5