Before you file anything
What counts as copyright infringement
Half the takedown fights people get into are about material that was never protected, or about copying that was always allowed. It is worth ten minutes to work out which side of that line you're on, because the answer decides whether you have a case or a problem.
What copyright actually covers
Copyright protects original works of authorship fixed in a tangible form: photographs, video, music, text, software, drawings. It comes into existence automatically when the work is created. You do not need a notice, a symbol or a registration for the work to be protected.
What it never covered is a longer list than people expect:
- Ideas, methods and systems. Your business model, your recipe's method, your workout routine, the concept of your video series.
- Facts. Prices, measurements, dates, addresses, ingredient lists, specifications. A competitor may copy every fact from your product page. How you wrote it is another matter.
- Names, titles and short phrases. Your brand name is a trademark question, not a copyright one, and the two systems behave completely differently.
- Typefaces, most useful objects, and layout as such. The chair design is not the photograph of the chair.
- Work in the public domain, and material you licensed away without noticing.
Five things that are not true
| What people believe | What is actually the case |
|---|---|
| Under 10 seconds is fine | There is no length that is automatically safe. A few seconds of a recognisable hook has been found infringing; a longer excerpt in a genuine review may be fine. |
| Crediting the author makes it legal | Attribution is not permission. It matters for plagiarism and for some licences; it is no defence to infringement. |
| Non-commercial use is allowed | It is one part of one fair use factor, not a rule. Plenty of non-commercial uses infringe. |
| "No copyright infringement intended" | Has no legal effect whatsoever. Infringement doesn't require intent. |
| It was already on the internet | Publication is not abandonment. Nothing enters the public domain by being findable. |
Fair use, as courts actually apply it
Fair use is a defence set out in 17 U.S.C. § 107. It is not a checklist and there is no threshold that guarantees it. Four factors get weighed together:
- Purpose and character of the use. Does it add commentary, criticism, parody, news reporting or research, or does it simply substitute for the original? Commercial use weighs against you but does not decide it.
- Nature of the work. Copying from factual work is treated more generously than copying from creative work.
- Amount and substantiality. Both how much you took and whether you took the heart of it.
- Effect on the market. Usually the heaviest factor. Does your use displace sales, or eat the licensing market the owner would otherwise have?
Why this belongs on a takedown page
A takedown notice requires you to state a good faith belief that the use is not authorised "by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law". Fair use is part of the law, and courts have held that a rights holder must genuinely consider it before sending a notice. Skipping that step is how a routine takedown turns into a § 512(f) claim against you.
What infringement is worth
Two routes to damages. Actual damages plus the infringer's profits, which you have to prove. Or statutory damages, which you don't have to prove. A court sets them per work infringed, in a range that runs from $750 to $30,000, and up to $150,000 where the infringement was wilful.
There is a catch that surprises almost everyone. Statutory damages and attorney's fees are only available if the work was registered with the Copyright Office before the infringement began, or within three months of first publication. Register late and you are limited to proving actual losses, which for most small creators is a number too small to justify a lawsuit.
You also cannot file an infringement suit in the United States until registration has actually been made. If your work matters commercially, registering it early is the cheapest leverage available. A takedown notice alone never gives you that.