Glossary
What Is DMCA?
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and its notice-and-takedown process, explained in plain language.
Definition
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a 1998 United States copyright law whose notice-and-takedown process lets rights holders request the removal of infringing content hosted by online service providers.
Also known as Digital Millennium Copyright Act, DMCA takedown
What the DMCA is
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a United States copyright law enacted in 1998. Its best-known provision is the notice-and-takedown process, which gives rights holders a route to have infringing content removed from the online services hosting it, and gives compliant service providers a "safe harbor" from liability in return.
How a DMCA takedown notice works
A rights holder, or an agent acting for them, sends a takedown notice to the service provider hosting the infringing material. The notice identifies the copyrighted work and the infringing copy and asks for its removal. On receiving a valid notice, the provider removes or disables access to the content to keep its safe-harbor protection.
Counter-notices
The party who posted the content can file a counter-notice claiming the removal was a mistake or misidentification. If they do, the material may be restored unless the rights holder pursues the matter further.
Beyond the United States
The DMCA is US law, but its notice-and-takedown model is widely used as a de facto standard by global platforms, and many other countries have their own equivalent copyright-removal procedures.
Frequently asked questions
It formally requests that an online service provider remove or disable access to content that infringes a copyright the sender owns or represents.