We all have our own private things that we keep on our phones. May it be photos, videos, or any other documents, we store them inside our mobile devices thinking that it is being kept safe from other people.
However, there are times when our phones can get hacked or stolen, which might potentially lead to the leaking of these private documents. The worst part is it can be uploaded online, and once it is up in the cloud, it is almost impossible to remove it.
On the other hand, the good thing is, some laws protect us from this sort of attack on our private lives. When the internet was invented, the unlawful spreading of copyrighted materials has also been an issue that went with it.
That is why the government created the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of the DMCA. This law covers everyone, even you, who is just a regular citizen. If you have these leaked documents online, you can ask the right people to remove them through a DMCA Takedown.
To learn more about this, just continue reading as this article will be explaining everything you need to know about the DMCA and your rights for this protection.
What is a DMCA Takedown?
The DMCA is a law created by legislators and media companies to protect their copyrighted materials from illegally spreading online. This includes films, music, and books, among other things.
Basically, the DMCA is a law that punishes those who steal copyrighted digital content. So, for example, if a big company found out that their movie is being streamed online on pirate sites, they can give a copyright strike to the administrator of that website for unlawfully uploading their property.
Most of the time, the people who violate this law are actually unaware of what they did. The value of copyright and intellectual rights is not given importance, especially that most of the violations happen online. People think that everything they see on the internet is for free.
They usually create pirated websites where other people can access them all over the world. Sometimes, these still people still charge others for the material but at a lower price, but some also just give it out without pay.
Now, the question is, is it only applicable for known and established brands or companies? The answer is no. This law protects everyone since all people are copyright holders in their rights. Every time you create original digital content, you automatically have your rights for it. No one can steal, spread, or duplicate that material without your consent.
Even if it is just a simple selfie photo, video, or typewritten document, the DMCA protects you from any possible malicious attack as long as it is your own. So, if you are worried about your photo/video that got leaked online, you can always take it down by requesting for a DMCA notice to be given to the administrator of the page or website that it has leaked into.
How does a DMCA notice work?
Once you are aware of the pages and websites where your files got leaked, you can contact them or a group of professionals to send them a DMCA notice. The notice can be sent directly to the admins, their internet service providers, or the web hosting site that they are using.
There are many ways to write the notice, but there are no set exact guidelines for it. It usually includes a greeting stating that the content that they have posted is copyright protected. But the approach shouldn’t be hostile unless there’s a malicious intent including in that post. Then, the DMCA will be stated, particularly the protections that you have with it.
After that, the notice should then include the name and signature of the original holder of the copyrights of that specific content. When the involved party receives the copyright strike notice, they are usually given a couple of days or weeks to take down that post.
If they do not reply or takedown that leaked copyrighted material of yours, then you can now bring it to the court. The notice served as a warning for them. So, if they do not oblige, then you have no other choice but to include the court since it is a punishable act.
It is always better to prove that the property is yours, especially if it is something that you created, like music or films. You can always create an embedded license in it or just any obvious proof that it is yours. That way, you can fight for your copyrights better when in court.
What happens if I get a notice myself?
Again, we might have already violated this law one way or another. Sometimes, we do not know that a certain material is actually copyright protected. We just found it online, and we thought that we could use it freely.
If you did get a notice, do not panic, as you can always just take it down and apologize to the original owners of that content. Do not let it drag until their given timeline because that would only make you suspicious of them.
However, if they wrongly accused you that you have stolen their content but you know that this isn’t theirs, just show them some proof to support your claim. That is why it is always important to have that license made for every material you will create, particularly if it is digitalized.
It is not a requirement, but it will help you fight when it comes to that.
Don’t hesitate to contact us
If your private content or documents got leaked online, do not ever hesitate to give us a call. We are more than willing to help you with your problems. Our female-led company specializes in removing these leaked documents that can potentially harm your privacy and safety.
Once you found out the pages where they got leaked, call us immediately to extend our top-notch services to help you. Not everything online will stay there forever. Together we can take it down.
If you are interested in how we could assist you through our services or need assistance with DMCA takedown and filing a DMCA notice, please click here to get in touch with us today for a discussion. Our team is looking forward to helping you.
Email: info@leakcontentremoval.com
Telegram: @halcyonlily
Whatsapp: +65 94837665
