Question
- What can I do if someone has copied my course content?
- What should I do if someone is infringing my intellectual property rights?
- How can I write, and send a DMCA Takedown Notice?
- How does Thinkific handle intellectual property claims and DMCA Notices?
- How do I dispute a copyright infringement claim?
Solution
Reporting Copyright Infringement to Thinkific
Reporting Copyright Infringement Hosted on 3rd Party Sites
As outlined in section 14.2 of our Terms of Service, Thinkific respects intellectual property rights and you should too. If we receive a DMCA Notice, we may disable access or remove the allegedly infringing content from your website. If you don’t think the claim is valid, you can proceed with a counter notification.
If you believe one of our customers is infringing your intellectual property rights, you can send Thinkific a DMCA Notice. We will expeditiously disable access or remove the content and notify the customer. Be advised that we post all notices we receive.
If you believe someone else is infringing on your copyrighted content, submit a DMCA Notice to the website, their DNS provider, or the website's hosting provider to request the content be removed.
Reporting Copyright Infringement to Thinkific
If you believe that Content residing on or accessible through the Thinkific web site or Services infringes a copyright, please send a notice of copyright infringement in PDF format containing the following information to the Designated Agent listed below:
- A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright that has been allegedly infringed;
- Identification of works or materials being infringed;
- Identification of the Content that is claimed to be infringing including information regarding the location of the Content that the copyright owner seeks to have removed, with sufficient detail so that Thinkific is capable of finding and verifying its existence;
- Contact information about the notifier including address, telephone number and, if available, e-mail address;
- A statement that the notifier has a good faith belief that the Content is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
- A statement made under penalty of perjury that the information provided is accurate and the notifying party is authorized to make the complaint on behalf of the copyright owner.
Once Proper Bona Fide Infringement Notification is Received by Thinkific’s Support Team
It is Thinkific’s policy to notify the Content provider or user that an infringement notification has been received and that the Content will be removed at the end of 24 hours unless a counter-notice is supplied to Thinkific. If no counter-notice complying with the section below is supplied, the infringing content will be removed from the system.
Procedure to Supply a Counter-Notice to Thinkific
If the Content provider, or user believes that the Content that was removed or to which access was disabled is either not infringing, or the Content provider or user believes that it has the right to post and use such Content from the copyright owner, the copyright owner’s agent, or pursuant to the law, the Content provider or user must send a counter-notice containing the following information to Thinkific’s Support Team listed below:
- A physical or electronic signature of the Content provider or user;
- Identification of the Content that is claimed to be infringing;
- A statement that the Content provider or user has a good faith belief that the infringement notification was received as a result of mistake or a misidentification of the Content; and
- Content provider’s or user’s name, address, telephone number, and, if available, e-mail address and a statement that such person or entity consents to the jurisdiction of the Federal Court for the judicial district in which the Content provider’s or user’s address is located, or if the Content provider’s or user’s address is located outside the United States, for any judicial district in which Thinkific is located, and that such person or entity will accept Services of process from the person who provided notification of the alleged infringement.
If a counter-notice is received by Thinkific’s Support Team, Thinkific will restore access to the Content and notify the original complaining party. The Content will then remain published unless the copyright owner files an action seeking a court order against the Content provider or user.
Designated Agent to Receive Notification of Claimed Infringement
Please contact Thinkific’s Support Team to submit a Notification of Claimed Infringement at the following address:
Name – Thinkific.com, Attn: Copyright Infringement
Email – support@thinkific.com
Address – 400-369 Terminal Avenue, Vancouver, BC V6A 4C4, Canada
Telephone – 1-888-832-2409
Reporting Copyright Infringement Hosted on 3rd Party Sites
If you discover your Thinkific content on another site without your permission, you can follow these steps to submit a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) or Digital Services Act (DSA) takedown request to remove the infringing content.
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Gather evidence. Before filing a takedown request, gather the following information:
- The URL of the infringing content
- A description of your original content
- Evidence that you own the copyright to the original content
- Identify the Website Owner. Check the website contact information or a form for reporting copyright infringement. Many sites have a designated DMCA agent.
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Submit a takedown request to the website. Your request should include the following information:
- Your Information: Full name, mailing address, phone number, and email address.
- Infringing Content: URLs of the infringing material.
- Original Content: Description and URLs (if available) of your original content.
- Statement of Good Faith: “I have a good faith belief that the use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.”
- Statement of Accuracy: “The information in this notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, I am the owner, or authorized to act on behalf of the owner, of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.”
- Signature: your physical or electronic signature.
Use the contact form or email provided on the website to send the notice. Ensure you have included all the information prepared in your DMCA notice.
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Identify the DNS provider. If the website does not respond, you can contact their DNS provider:
- Go to a WHOIS service like DomainTools or ICANN Lookup.
- Enter the domain name of the infringing website.
- Look for the DNS provider’s information in the WHOIS record.
- Send a Takedown notice to the DNS provider. Follow the same steps to prepare your DMCA notice as mentioned above, and send the notice to the contact email found in the WHOIS record.
- Go to a WHOIS service like DomainTools or ICANN Lookup.
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Identify the Hosting Provider. If contacting the DNS provider does not yield results, the next step is to contact the hosting provider.
- Use online tools like Hosting Checker or WebHostingHero to identify the hosting provider. Enter the domain name of the infringing website to find out who hosts it.
- Send a Takedown notice to the hosting provider. Follow the same steps to prepare your DMCA notice as mentioned above. Send the notice to the hosting provider’s abuse contact email.
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Follow up. After sending your DMCA notices, follow up if necessary:
- Check if the content has been removed. Consider seeking legal advice if the infringing content remains online.
DMCA Notice Template
[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[City, State, ZIP Code]
[Your Email Address]
[Date]
[Recipient Name]
[Recipient Address]
[City, State, ZIP Code]
Subject: DMCA Takedown Notice
Dear [Recipient Name],
I am writing to notify you of a copyright infringement under the DMCA. The infringing content is being displayed on your site at the following URLs: [List of URLs].
I am the owner of the copyrighted content that is being infringed, which is described as follows: [Description of Original Content].
I have a good faith belief that the use of the materia in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law. The information in this notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, I am the owner, or authorized to act on behalf of the owner, of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
I hereby request that you remove or disable access to the infringing material as required by the DMCA.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Signature (electronic or physical)]
By following these steps and using the provided templates, you can take action to protect your Thinkific content from unauthorized use on other websites.
These instructions are intended as a guide, and should not be considered legal advice. If you need additional assistance, we recommend that you source the appropriate legal advice in your jurisdiction.