Notice and takedown

How to submit a notice about material published here, what a notice needs to contain, and what happens after it arrives.

Policy

Notices concerning material published on this site are taken seriously and are acted on. A notice that is complete and identifies the material clearly will be processed ahead of general correspondence.

What a notice must contain

To be actionable, a notice needs all of the following. Notices missing any of it cannot be processed and will be returned with a note saying what was absent.

• Identification of the work concerned, specific enough that it can be recognised without guesswork.
• The exact address of the page on this site that the notice concerns. A general reference to the site is not sufficient.
• Your name, organisation where relevant, and an address at which you can be contacted.
• A statement that you hold a good faith belief that the use complained of is not authorised.
• A statement that the information in the notice is accurate, and that you are authorised to act on behalf of the rights holder.
• A physical or electronic signature.

Where to send it

Send the notice through the contact page, choosing the notice and takedown topic so it is routed correctly. Notices sent under a different topic still arrive, but they enter the general queue and take longer.

What happens next

A complete notice is acknowledged, and the material identified in it is removed or disabled while the notice is assessed. Assessment normally concludes within a few working days. You will be told the outcome at the contact address given in the notice.

Counter notices

If material has been removed and you believe that was in error, a counter notice can be submitted through the same route. It needs to identify the material and its former location, give your contact details, and state the basis on which you believe removal was mistaken. Counter notices are assessed on the same basis as the original notice.

Repeat notices

Where notices are received repeatedly about material of the same kind, the underlying entries are reviewed rather than only the specific pages named, so that the same issue does not have to be raised again.