Frequently Asked Questions
DMCA Overview & Process
DMCA stands for the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. It’s a U.S. law enacted in 1998 that addresses the rights of copyright holders in the digital age. The DMCA helps protect against the unauthorized copying and distribution of copyrighted material online, such as music, videos, and software. It also sets out rules for how internet service providers and website owners should handle copyright infringement claims.
The DMCA takedown process typically ranges from 24 hours to six months, depending on various factors like platform responsiveness and the complexity of the case. Most takedowns on major platforms such as Google, social media sites, and payment gateways occur within a week, but some may extend to several weeks. Learn more here.
A DMCA takedown process begins when a copyright owner identifies their work being used without permission online. We then send Cease & Desist letters and DMCA takedown notices to infringing websites, their web hosts, payment gateways, and Google and Bing to get infringing content removed and deindexed. This notice includes specific details about the copyrighted material and the unauthorized use. Upon receiving a valid notice, the service provider is legally obligated to remove or disable access to the infringing content promptly.
Yes, DMCA notices can be effective in getting unauthorized copyrighted content removed from the internet. When a DMCA notice is properly filed, companies are legally obligated to remove the infringing content promptly to maintain their safe harbor protection.
We scour pirate websites for copies of your content. Sometimes, they are not indexed by the search engines or just one. In that case, we file a DMCA with the website but only file one with the search engine if the URL is indexed and showing in search results.
Sometimes, we do not submit DMCAs at all to Google if the pirated URL is not indexed and showing in search. If we do report to Google, we spread out submissions in smaller batches over a few days. If Google gets a large volume of submissions, they may flag us as a bot and reject the submissions. If a submission is rejected, it then requires an appeal, which we will do as part of our service, but that adds time to the process. Other automated services often get Google DMCAs rejected, and they do not bother addressing appeals at all, which is a big differentiator for our service.
We start our search by scouring Google, Bing, Yandex, and our growing list of 200+ websites known to steal content. Over time, new copies of content will appear, and we continue to monitor and perform takedowns. In addition, once Google deindexes the URLs we report, over time, Google displays more URL’s in search results that were not previously indexed and appearing.
Some websites will suggest you watermark your content with your branding, but that really does not deter thieves. Unfortunately, there’s not much anyone can do to prevent theft, and the key is to monitor and get infringements taken down quickly.
Service Details & Pricing
Our service starts at $950/3 months, and we will do everything from finding the stolen content, sending takedown notices, following up with requests, and continuously monitoring for any more stolen content. We also offer custom pricing.
The name, Company name, URL, and author of your stolen content. And also any authorized partners and affiliates that we should exclude from takedown activities.
Yes, although not all websites will honor the US DMCA legislation. The key is that if websites are showing up in Google search, we will file a DMCA with Google to get them deindexed.
Your personal information will be kept anonymous. When you sign up, you authorize us to send legal letters on your behalf without releasing your personal information.
At our service, we stand apart from other DMCA takedown providers by emphasizing human oversight at every step of the process. Unlike services that rely heavily on automation and bots, our team of experts personally manages each case, ensuring accuracy and attention to detail. We believe transparency is key, which is why we offer clear, upfront pricing without any hidden fees—a refreshing change from the norm in this industry. Moreover, we prioritize open communication with our clients, providing detailed, weekly updates on the status of their takedown requests. This commitment to personalized service and transparency ensures our clients always know where they stand and can trust in the effectiveness of their DMCA actions.
Monitoring & Reporting
The timeframe for seeing results from a DMCA takedown request can vary. Generally, once the takedown notice is properly submitted and meets all legal requirements, service providers typically act relatively quickly. Here’s what you might expect: Major Platforms like Google, and YouTube (24-72 hours after notice is processed), Web Hosts or Small Sites (days to weeks), and complex cases (might take several weeks to see results).
We will compile and share all records to a private tracker of all the places we found your stolen content. We update your tracker every Tuesday morning.
The detailed reporting trackers are updated every Tuesday.
Even after submitting a takedown request, we have to wait for the hosting platform to remove the content. This may take a couple of days or weeks, but we continue to follow up on any requests we submit.
We do a thorough search when you first sign up, and every week we check for any new infringing sites.
Client Support & Policies
Due to the heavy upfront effort required in our process, we cannot offer refunds or prorated months if you cancel. However, there is no contract and you can cancel anytime and you will not be billed in the following month.
Go to our services page and either checkout for our service or request more information for a custom plan.
Within your portal, go to Subscriptions and cancel. You can also email us or create a ticket if you would like to cancel the service.
We do everything we can on our side to enforce DMCA takedowns and protect your content. However, DMCA takedowns are not guaranteed. As for the success rate, the team is very good at getting infringements removed, but it is a game of cat and mouse, and we don’t guarantee we’ll win 100% of the battles.
While we take every effort to get the pirated URL taken down, the most important bit is getting it deindexed from search so that no one can find it, and the search engines are very responsive.
After a month, you’ll see a big dent in the number of infringements appearing in search, and it will continue to get better over time. It is an ongoing service where we monitor weekly and work to take down new ones whenever they pop up.
You can contact support@dmcaauthority.com for any questions or support. However, the best way to reach out is to create a ticket within your client portal.
