Copyright Complaints

Our copyright agent

Email is fastest. Use the subject "Copyright notice".

What to include in a notice

The law (17 U.S.C. 512(c)(3)) asks for all of the following:

1. Your signature, physical or electronic. A typed name is fine.
2. The work you own that you believe was copied, such as a photo or a recipe. If there are several, a representative list is enough.
3. The material you believe infringes it, and where it is: which app, and anything that helps us find it, such as the group, the member who shared it, the date, or a screenshot. Most Ridgewill content is private to a group, so you may not have a link.
4. How to contact you: your name, mailing address, phone number and email.
5. This statement: "I have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law."
6. This statement: "The information in this notice 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."

If something is missing, we will ask you for it.

What we do with a notice

• We remove or disable access to the material promptly once we have a valid notice.
• We tell the member who shared it, and send them a copy of your notice. That copy includes your name and contact details, because the member needs them to send a counter-notice.
• We give you a reference number and tell you what we did.

Counter-notice: if your content was removed

If we removed something you shared and you believe it was a mistake, or that you have the right to use it, you can send a counter-notice to the same agent. Use the subject "Copyright counter-notice". The law (17 U.S.C. 512(g)(3)) asks for:

1. Your signature, physical or electronic. A typed name is fine.
2. What was removed, and where it was before we removed it. Our reference number helps.
3. This statement: "Under penalty of perjury, I have a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled."
4. Your name, address and phone number, and this statement: "I consent to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court for the judicial district in which my address is located, or if my address is outside the United States, for any judicial district in which Ridgewill LLC may be found, and I will accept service of process from the person who provided the original notice or an agent of that person."

When we receive a valid counter-notice, we send a copy to the person who sent the original notice. We put the material back 10 to 14 business days later, unless they tell us in that time that they have filed a court action to stop the member from infringing.

Repeat infringers

We close the account of anyone who repeatedly infringes copyright. We count it as repeated when an account receives three valid notices within 12 months that are not resolved by a counter-notice. We may close an account sooner if the infringement is clear and deliberate. This is in section 7 of the Ridgewill Terms of Service.

Be accurate

Under 17 U.S.C. 512(f), anyone who knowingly misrepresents that material infringes, or that it was removed by mistake, may have to pay the damages, including costs and attorneys' fees, that the misrepresentation causes. If you are not sure whether something infringes your copyright, consider getting legal advice before you send a notice.