Copyright and DMCA Policy

If you believe that someone on the Vocal platform has violated your copyright, you can follow the procedure below.

For background, the federal law known as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 requires Vocal to post its procedure for a user to request the removal of content that he or she legitimately believes violates its copyright. Vocal must then remove the content in question. On the other hand, the person who posted the content in question can file a counter-notification, which may result in the content being re-posted.

We explain our policy on this procedure below.

If you believe that someone is violating your copyright

• If you believe your copyright is being infringed, you can file a “Takedown Notice” with us. You can do it or your representative authorized by you can do it.

• You could be subject to substantial liabilities if the user who posted what you consider to be infringing material demonstrates that your claim is not valid. Check with a lawyer.

You must include the following information and in English:

• an electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest (that would be you);
• a description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed;
• a description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on the Site, in a manner that is sufficient for Vocal to locate the material;
• your address, telephone number, and email address;
• a statement by you that you understand that under 17 U.S.C § 512(f) you may be liable for any damages, including costs and attorneys' fees, if you knowingly and materially misrepresent that reported material or activity is infringing;
• a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
• a statement by you that the information in your notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf.

Please send it to us via email at [email protected]. You must also send it by physical mail to the following address:

ATTN: Vocal DMCA Agent

c/o Creatd, Inc.

2050 Center Ave Suite 640

Fort Lee, NJ 07605

We’ll then remove that content. We will also forward the Takedown Notice to the user in question—i.e., the one you think has infringed your copyright. That user will have the right to file a counter-notification, which is explained below.

What to do if your content has been removed (and you receive a DMCA notice)

If you receive a DMCA notification and believe that your work has been removed (or it can’t be seen on the platform) based on invalid claims, then you can submit a “counter-notification,” which must include the following information (and must be in English):

• a physical or electronic signature of the user of the services;
• identification of the material that has been removed (or to which access has been disabled) and the location at which the material appeared before removal or (prohibited access);
• a statement made under penalty of perjury that the member has a good faith belief that the material was removed (or access disabled) as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material; and
• the member's name, address, telephone number, and a statement that the member consents to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court for the judicial district in which the address is located, or if the member's address is outside of the United States, for any judicial district in which the service provider may be found, and that the user will accept service of process from the person who provided notification under 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3), or an agent of such person.

Please refer to the relevant DMCA provisions at the U.S. Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. §512(g)(3). We also recommend that you consult a lawyer.

Email that information to us at [email protected] and also mail it to Vocal's copyright agent at the following address:

ATTN: Vocal DMCA Agent

c/o Creatd, Inc.

2050 Center Ave Suite 640

Fort Lee, NJ 07605

We will then forward your counter-notification to the user (or its agent) who filed the Takedown Notice. That user (or agent) has to inform us within 10 business days of going to court to prevent further infringement or reach a resolution with you. If we do not receive a notice of the court order or the resolution then we may reinstate the content.

What to do if you receive a counter-notification

If you receive a counter-notification then it is up to you to resolve the dispute or go to court to seek a court order to stop the infringement and then notify us—all within 10 business days. If not, then we’ll re-post the content.

Our Copyright Policy and privacy

At the moment, we do not publicize Takedown notices and counter-notifications (such as posting them) but we might do so in the future. We will remove personal information that could be used to contact the parties involved. We might choose to provide all information we have (including contact information) to opposing parties in such a dispute and we might also be compelled to do so in a legal action.

For more information

You can read the law at the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. For details on required information and more on the procedure, you can read Section 512, although we recommend that you consult a lawyer.