DMCA – Digital Millennium Copyright Act

Our Copyright Infringement and Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) Policy

As ShallHelp asks others to respect its intellectual property rights, it respects the intellectual property rights of others.  If you believe that material located on or linked to by ShallHelp.com violates your copyright, you are encouraged to notify ShallHelp in accordance with ShallHelp’s Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) Policy. ShallHelp will respond to all such notices, including as required or appropriate by removing the infringing material or disabling all links to the infringing material.  ShallHelp will terminate a visitor’s access to and use of the Website if, under appropriate circumstances, the visitor is determined to be a repeat infringer of the copyrights or other intellectual property rights of ShallHelp or others.  In the case of such termination, ShallHelp will have no obligation to provide a refund of any amounts previously paid to ShallHelp.

Intellectual Property.  This Agreement does not transfer from ShallHelp to you any ShallHelp or third party intellectual property (IP), and all rights, title and interest in and to such property will remain (as between the parties) solely with ShallHelp.   ShallHelp, ShallHelp.com, the ShallHelp.com logo, and all other trademarks, service marks, graphics and logos used in connection with ShallHelp.com, or the Website are trademarks or registered trademarks of ShallHelp or ShallHelp’s licensors.  Other trademarks, service marks, graphics and logos used in connection with the Website may be the trademarks of other third parties. Your use of the Website grants you no right or license to reproduce or otherwise use any ShallHelp or third-party trademarks.

1. Copyrights

1.1) When a person creates an original work that is fixed in a physical medium, that person automatically owns copyright to the work.  Copyright ownership gives the owner the exclusive right to use the work in certain, specific ways.  Many types of works are eligible for copyright protection, including audiovisual words, sound recordings and musical compositions, written works, visual works, video games and computer software, and dramatic works.

1.2) In some circumstances, it is possible to use a copyrighted work without infringing the owner’s copyright.  For example, in the United States, copyrights are limited by the doctrine of “fair use,” which permits certain uses of copyrighted material, such as parody, satire, and social commentary.

1.3)  ShallHelp accepts unsolicited designs from independent artists who are informed and have agreed to ShallHelp’s policies concerning the intellectual property rights of others.  All designs selected by ShallHelp are new, original, and/or transformative works that may parody, satirize, or provide social commentary on other copyrighted works.  ShallHelp and the selected designs make only fair use of the copyrighted works of others.  ShallHelp respects the copyrights of others, and ShallHelp is not affiliated with the owners of the copyrights to which the selected designs may refer to.

1.4) It is ShallHelp’s policy to respond to notices of alleged infringement that comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), 17 U.S.C. § 512, and other applicable laws.  ShallHelp’s response may include removing or disabling access to a design claimed to be infringing.  If ShallHelp removes or disables access in response to such a notice, ShallHelp will make a good-faith attempt to contact the independent artist who submitted the design to ShallHelp so that the artist may make a counter-notification pursuant to Section 512(g)(2) and (3) of the DMCA.

1.5) Please refer to the following detailed instructions which must be followed to protect your rights under the DMCA.

2. Instructions for Copyright Owners

2.1) ShallHelp will only respond to notifications that contain the following:

2.1.1) A description of the design that is claimed to be infringing and its URL on the ShallHelp website.

2.1.2) A complete description of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed or, if multiple copyrighted works are claimed to have been infringed, a representative list of such works and descriptions thereof.  The description should identify all related copyright registration numbers.

2.1.3) A statement providing the basis for the complaint.

2.1.4) The following contact information:

2.1.4.1) The complaining party’s full legal name.

2.1.4.2) The authorized agent’s full legal name (if applicable).

2.1.4.3) A postal address for contacting the complaining party.

2.1.4.4) An e-mail address for contacting the complaining party.

2.1.4.5) A phone number for contacting the complaining party.

2.1.5) The following statements:

2.1.5.1) “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.”

2.1.5.2) “This notification is accurate.”

2.1.5.3) “UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY, I am the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.” or, if an authorized agent is submitting the notification, “UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY, I am authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.”

2.1.5.4) “I acknowledge that under Section 512(f) of the DMCA, any person who knowingly materially misrepresents that material or activity is infringing may be subject to liability for damages.”

2.1.6) A physical or electronic signature of the complaining party or the authorized agent thereof.

2.1.7) Your authority for submitting the notification (e.g., copyright owner, authorized agent of copyright owner)

2.2) The complaining party or authorized agent thereof should file the notification either (1) using one of the contact means identified in the U.S. Copyright Office’s online service provider directory, (2) contacting ShallHelp by email at “support AT ShallHelp DOT com” AND using our Contact Form.

2.3) Upon receipt of a complete notification, ShallHelp will remove or disable access to the design that is claimed to be infringing from the ShallHelp website.  The independent artist or Registered Member, or Commenter, who submitted the design will be forwarded a copy of the notification and will be alerted that access to the design has been removed or disabled.

3. Instructions for Independent Artists or Registered Members or Article Authors or Contributors

3.1) Any complaining party or authorized agent thereof following the procedures in Section 2 above can require ShallHelp to remove or disable access to copyrighted content.  When ShallHelp receives a proper notification from a complaining party or authorized agent thereof, ShallHelp will immediately comply.  This is a legal requirement; you will not receive advance warning and you will not be given an opportunity to “fix it” first.

3.2) If you are found to repeatedly submit infringing designs, your account will be suspended.  Serious offenders will have their account deactivated and will be permanently banned from submitting designs.  ShallHelp considers “three strikes” as an indication of being a serious offender.  In addition, if you are found deliberately misrepresenting the copyrighted work of another as your own, your account will be immediately deactivated and you will be permanently banned from submitting designs.

3.3) ShallHelp will only respond to counter-notifications that contain the following:

3.3.1) A description of the design that is claimed to be infringing and its URL at the ShallHelp website before access to the design was removed or disabled.

3.3.2) A statement why the claim of copyright infringement should be rejected.

3.3.3) The following contact information:

3.3.3.1) The responding party’s full legal name.

3.3.3.2) The authorized agent’s full legal name (if applicable).

3.3.3.3) A postal address for contacting the responding party.

3.3.3.4) An e-mail address for contacting the responding party.

3.3.3.5) A phone number for contacting the responding party.

3.3.4) The following statements:

3.3.4.1) “UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY, I have a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or mis-identification of the material to be removed or disabled.”

3.3.4.2) “I will accept service of process from the person who provided notification under Section 512(c)(1)(C) of the DMCA or the agent of such person.”

3.3.4.3) “I acknowledge that under Section 512(f) of the DMCA, any person who knowingly materially misrepresents that material or activity was removed or disabled by mistake or misidentification may be subject to liability for damages.”

3.3.5) A physical or electronic signature of the responding party or authorized agent thereof.

3.3.6) Your authority for submitting the counter-notification (e.g., independent artist who submitted the design, authorized agent of independent artist who submitted the design)

3.4) The responding party or the authorized agent thereof should file the notification either (1) using one of the contact means identified in the U.S. Copyright Office’s online service provider directory, (2) contacting ShallHelp by email at “support AT ShallHelp DOT com.” AND using our Contact Form.

3.5) If ShallHelp receives your counter-notification, but your design does not comply with the ShallHelp Artist’s Agreement and/or the ShallHelp Terms of Use, ShallHelp may inform you that ShallHelp is not be able to reinstate your work.  ShallHelp may also request further information from you in order to determine whether the work can be reinstated.

3.6) In many circumstances, ShallHelp will forward your counter-notification (including the contact information in Section 3.4.3) to the complaining party or authorized agent thereof. At that time the complaining party may take legal action against you in Federal District Court. If after 14 days the complaining party has not taken legal action against you, you may contact ShallHelp to request that ShallHelp reinstate your work.  If your work otherwise complies with ShallHelp Artist’s Agreement and/or the ShallHelp Terms of Use, ShallHelp may reinstate your work at that time.

 

Questions and Contact Information

If you would like to: access, correct, amend or delete any personal information we have about you, register a complaint, or simply want more information, you can contact our Privacy Compliance Officer via our Ticket  System by clicking HERE  (and select “Compliance Officer” on the drop down menu). our Contact Form (please include the Line “ATTN: COMPLIANCE OFFICER” in the Body of your Message on the Contact Form)

Related:

Privacy Policy
Terms of Service / Terms of Use

Updated 6/17/2018.
Updated 5/8/2021. Removed link to the external Ticket System and added links to the  Contact Form and the Contact Us Forum.
– Yes, I know it’s long. But it is legalese, and all websites need to state all of these. 🙂 – CrisW