DMCA notice requirements
A notification that substantially fails to comply with these is not a weak notice. Legally it is not a notice at all, and the host keeps its safe harbour as though you had never written.
The statute, in order
Section 512(c)(3)(A) lists six things a notification must include. They are not stylistic preferences and a host reviewer will check for them.
- (i) A signature
- Physical or electronic, of a person authorised to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed. In practice every major host accepts an electronic signature in the form “/s/ Name”.
- (ii) Identification of the copyrighted work
- What was copied. Where a single site has infringed multiple works, the statute expressly permits a <em>representative list</em> rather than an exhaustive one, which is what makes scraper cases manageable.
- (iii) Identification of the infringing material
- Identified with enough detail to permit the provider to locate it. A URL. “Their website” is not an identification and a provider is entitled to do nothing with it.
- (iv) Contact information
- Address, telephone number, and email if available, for the complaining party. This reaches the other side — hosts routinely forward notices in full.
- (v) A good-faith statement
- That the complaining party has a good-faith belief that the use is not authorised by the copyright owner, its agent, <em>or the law</em>. Those last four words carry the fair-use duty.
- (vi) A statement of accuracy and authority
- That the information is accurate, and <em>under penalty of perjury</em>, that the complaining party is authorised to act on behalf of the owner. Only this element is sworn.
What “substantially comply” means
Section 512(c)(3)(B) deals with defective notices. A notification that fails to comply substantially with the six elements shall not be considered in determining whether the provider has actual knowledge of infringement.
In plain terms: a defective notice does not put the host on notice. The safe harbour is undisturbed, the clock never starts, and you have achieved nothing except telling the other side you noticed.
There is a partial exception. Where a notice substantially complies with elements (ii), (iii) and (iv) but is defective elsewhere, the provider is expected to take reasonable steps to contact the sender and obtain a corrected notice. That is a narrow safety net and not a plan.
Why our software refuses to build an incomplete one
Where it has to be sent
Under § 512(c)(2) the safe harbour is only available to a provider that has designated an agent to receive notifications and made that agent’s details available on its site and to the Copyright Office. The Office maintains a public, searchable directory.
A notice sent to a general support address has not been sent to the designated agent. Whether it still works depends on the goodwill of whoever opens it, and goodwill is not a legal mechanism. Check the directory every time: agents change, and companies get acquired.
What is not required
- Registration. Copyright exists from creation. You do not need a registration certificate to send a notice.
- A lawyer. A rights holder may send their own notice, and most notices are sent without one.
- Notarisation. Not a statutory requirement. A few providers ask for extra formality anyway, which is their choice rather than the law.
- Contacting the infringer first. Not required, and often counterproductive.
- A dollar figure. A notice is a removal request, not a claim. A payment demand inside one is not a statutory element and is prohibited in some jurisdictions.
Where notices most often fail
The elements are not difficult, but there are recurring ways a notice is sent and ignored. None of these is a legal subtlety; all of them are avoidable.
- A homepage instead of a URL
- “They copied my site” with a link to their domain gives the recipient nothing to act on. Clause (iii) asks for information reasonably sufficient to locate the material. One URL per copied page.
- No identification of your own work
- Clause (ii) requires the copyrighted work. Saying the copy infringes without saying what it copies leaves the reviewer unable to compare anything.
- Missing or paraphrased statements
- The good-faith belief and the penalty-of-perjury statements are statutory text. Rewriting them in your own words invites a rejection on form, and that rejection is cheap for the recipient to issue.
- Sent to the wrong address
- A support inbox is not a designated agent. The Copyright Office directory exists precisely so you can find the right one, and the safe-harbor machinery only engages when the designated agent receives the notice.
- Claiming something you do not own
- Embedded stock, a theme’s demo text, a freelancer’s work with no written assignment. These are the three most common ways people file over material that is not theirs.
A notice that contains all six elements, points at specific URLs and arrives at the designated agent is a routine matter for the recipient to process. Most of the work is in the preparation.
Who may sign
Clause (i) allows the signature of the owner or “a person authorized to act on behalf of” the owner. That phrase is doing more work than it appears to.
It means an agent can file, which is why law firms, brand-protection services and representatives of any kind are able to send notices at all. It also means the authority has to be real. The clause (vi) statement swears, under penalty of perjury, that the signer is authorized. A representative with no actual authorization is making a false sworn statement, and several platforms now ask agents for evidence of authority before acting.
In practice, where someone other than the owner files, a signed authorization naming the agent, the work and the scope of the engagement should exist before the first notice goes out. That document is not sent with the notice, but it is what makes the sworn statement true.
Last reviewed October 23, 2026. This is general information about a US statute, not legal advice, and we are not a law firm.
What people ask next
Is an emailed notice valid?
Yes. The statute requires written notification, and email is accepted by every major provider. Many designate an email address specifically for this, and several require their own web form instead, which is also fine.
Can my agent sign it rather than me?
Yes. Element (i) refers to a person authorised to act on behalf of the owner, and element (vi) is a statement of that authority. The authority has to genuinely exist, which is why an agency authorisation is a precondition rather than a formality.
What if I only know the domain, not the URL?
Then you are not ready to file. Element (iii) requires enough detail for the provider to locate the material. Find the specific pages first — a scan of your own site will produce the exact URLs.
Does the perjury statement cover the whole notice?
No, and this misunderstanding stops a lot of people filing. It covers the accuracy of the information in the notification and your authority to act. It does not make you swear to the legal conclusion that infringement occurred.
Related
How to file a DMCA takedown
The whole process end to end: capturing evidence, finding the right recipient, writing a notice that contains all six required elements, sending it, and following up when nothing happens.
The law, plainlyWhat is § 512(f)?
The provision that makes a knowingly false takedown notice actionable, what Lenz v. Universal added to it, and what a sender has to do to stay on the right side of it.
The law, plainlyCounter-notices under § 512(g)
What a counter-notification must contain, the 10 to 14 business day restoration window, and what the sender commits to by filing one.
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