Free DMCA takedown notice generator

What makes a notice valid

A takedown notice under 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3) only obliges a host to act if it contains six specific elements. Most creator takedowns fail not because the claim is weak but because the notice is missing one, and the host is entitled to ignore it. This generator includes all six:

1. A physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or their agent
2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to be infringed
3. Identification of the infringing material and where it is located
4. Contact information for the complaining party
5. A statement of good-faith belief that the use is not authorised
6. A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information is accurate and you are authorised to act

When the site ignores you

Most creators send one email, hear nothing, and conclude the process doesn't work. It usually does — it just has more than one step, and almost nobody is told what they are.

1. Send to the host. The site's designated DMCA agent. Most legitimate hosts act within 1–14 days because ignoring a valid notice costs them their safe-harbour protection.
2. Go upstream to the actual hosting provider. If the site ignores you, find who hosts it and send the same notice there. Hosts have far more to lose than the site does and will often pull the whole account.
3. Go to the CDN or proxy. Many of these sites sit behind a proxy. The proxy will usually not remove content, but will forward your notice and disclose the real host, which is what you need.
4. De-index with the search engines. Google and Bing both accept DMCA notices. This does not remove the content but it removes the traffic — which is most of the damage, since almost nobody types these URLs directly.
5. Report to the payment processor. If the infringing site takes payments, its processor has policies against infringing merchants and moves faster than any host.
6. Go to the registrar. Last resort, slowest, occasionally decisive when the whole site is dedicated to infringement.

The step most people skip

De-indexing. Google and Bing both accept DMCA notices, and removing a page from search removes most of the harm even if the file stays online — almost nobody types these URLs directly, they find them by searching your name. If you only do one thing beyond the first email, do this one.

Before you send

• Use your real name. The perjury declaration is what gives the notice its force. A notice signed with a stage name is weaker and may be rejected.
• Your name and address may be passed to the uploader. Hosts often forward the notice as received. If that's a safety concern, a takedown service or a lawyer can file on your behalf as your agent — that is the main reason those services exist.
• Only claim work you own. A knowingly false notice carries real liability.
• Keep records. Dates, recipients and responses matter if it escalates.

We store nothing here

This page generates the notice in your browser session and keeps no copy. We never ask for the content itself — only a description of it in words. If you want to track leaks and takedowns over time, that's inside the app, and even there we store only URLs, never your work.