Resources
Guides and answers for website owners whose work gets copied. This page is general information to help you act quickly and ask better questions — it is not legal advice, and for a serious dispute you should talk to a lawyer.
Your website's original words, photos, and design are protected by copyright from the moment they are created. When someone copies them, the DMCA gives you a fast, free way to demand that hosts and platforms remove the copy — but your notice has to contain specific information, and it works far better with dated proof that the work was yours first. That proof is exactly what Footprint OnChain creates for you.
You own it when you create it. Copyright exists automatically the moment original work is created — your page text, your photos, your graphics, and your site's original design elements. You do not have to file anything or print a © symbol for the protection to exist, though the symbol is a useful reminder to copiers.
What it does not cover. Copyright does not protect ideas, facts, names, or short phrases — it protects the actual expression: the words as written, the photo as taken, the design as built. Someone may legally write about the same topic; they may not lift your text, images, or code.
Who owns a site someone built for you? It depends on the agreement. Work created by an employee is normally the employer's; work by a freelancer or agency is governed by your contract — which is why ownership and assignment should be in writing before a site is built. (Pearce Studios' own website terms state the ownership position plainly, in writing, for exactly this reason.)
Registration is a separate, optional step. Registering with the U.S. Copyright Office is not what creates your copyright, but for U.S. works it is generally required before you can file an infringement lawsuit, and timely registration (before the copying, or within three months of publication) is what makes statutory damages and attorney's fees available. Register high-value work at copyright.gov.
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) lets online service providers — hosts, platforms, and search engines — avoid liability for their users' copying if they act quickly to remove it when properly notified. That "safe harbor" is why takedown notices work: a correct notice puts the provider's own protection on the line, so reputable providers act on it. The U.S. Copyright Office's own summary is here: The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (PDF).
A valid takedown notice must include:
· Your name and contact information (address, phone, email)
· Identification of the work that was copied (your page, photo, or site)
· The exact address (URL) of the copy you want removed
· A statement that you have a good-faith belief the use is not authorised by you, your agent, or the law
· A statement, under penalty of perjury, that your notice is accurate and that you are the owner or authorised to act for the owner
· Your physical or electronic signature
Where to send it. To the copying site's host (which can take the whole site down — find it from the domain's registration and hosting records), to Google (which can remove the copy from search results — that stops its traffic, though the page itself stays up until the host acts), and to any platform republishing your material (social networks, marketplaces, app stores). Most large providers have an online DMCA form; use it and keep the confirmation.
The counter-notice. The person who posted the copy can file a counter-notice claiming a right to use the material. If they do, the provider generally restores the content in 10–14 business days unless you tell the provider you have filed a court action. A counter-notice from a wholesale copier is rare — and if one arrives, that is the moment for a lawyer.
Screenshot the copy, note the URLs and the date, and save the pages themselves. Screenshots alone are weak evidence — they are easy to fake and easy to challenge — but they are a useful index of what existed where.
Gather what shows the work was yours before the copy existed: your Footprint OnChain timestamp certificates and monitoring log, your original files and drafts, invoices, and publication records. This is the material hosts ask for — and the material a copier usually cannot produce.
A short, factual message — "This site reproduces my website [your URL], which is timestamped [date]. Please remove it by [date]" — resolves many cases, especially where a web designer reused a build without thinking. Keep it polite and keep the reply.
Include every element listed above and attach your evidence. Reputable hosts typically remove wholesale copies quickly once a complete notice lands.
A parallel report to Google gets the copy removed from search results, cutting off the traffic it was built to steal while the host process runs.
Options include the domain registrar's abuse desk, a lawyer's cease-and-desist, and — for U.S. disputes that fit — the Copyright Claims Board, a small-claims style tribunal at the Copyright Office designed for claims too small for federal court. Keep every record; your Footprint evidence pack is built for exactly this file.
· Keep your original files, drafts, and dated records — and a timestamped fingerprint of the finished site (that is the Footprint OnChain stamp)
· Put ownership in writing in every designer/agency contract
· Register copyright for your highest-value content at copyright.gov
· Keep your name and contact details current on your domain registration so notices can reach you — and so you can find copiers' hosts
· Monitor: most copies are found months late, or never. Automatic detection is the whole point of this service
We do the two things takedowns depend on: detecting the copy the moment it goes live, and proving — with SHA-256 fingerprints anchored to the Bitcoin blockchain — that your version existed first. When a copy is confirmed, your evidence pack puts the monitoring log, certificates, and comparison in one file, ready to attach to a DMCA notice. We are not lawyers and we do not file notices for you; we make sure that when you file one, it lands with proof attached.
Yes. Copyright exists from the moment original work is created and fixed in a tangible form — publishing a page does that. No filing, fee, or © symbol is required for the protection to exist.
Not for the protection to exist — but registration matters if things go to court. For U.S. works, registration is generally required before filing an infringement suit, and registering before the copying happens (or within three months of publication) preserves your eligibility for statutory damages and attorney's fees. Many owners register only their most valuable pages, photos, and collections.
No. A Footprint OnChain timestamp is independent, tamper-proof evidence that specific content existed at a specific time — extremely useful in takedowns and disputes. Registration is a separate government process with separate legal benefits. They complement each other; neither replaces the other.
A formal notice to an online service provider (host, platform, or search engine) identifying copied material and asking for its removal, under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. A complete notice — with the elements listed on this page — obliges reputable providers to act quickly to keep their legal safe harbor.
Three places, in order of impact: the copying site's hosting provider (can remove the site), Google (can remove it from search results), and any platform republishing your material. Most large providers publish a DMCA form or a designated agent's contact in their terms or in the Copyright Office's directory of agents.
It varies by provider. Complete notices about wholesale copies are often actioned within a few business days by reputable hosts; search-result removals are usually similarly quick. Incomplete notices are the main cause of delays — which is why attaching dated evidence matters.
The copier's formal claim that they had a right to use the material. If one is filed, the provider generally restores the content in 10–14 business days unless you notify them that you have filed a court action. Treat a counter-notice as the point to involve a lawyer.
Yes. Copyright protects each original work — a photo, an article, a page design — whether it is copied alone or as part of a wholesale clone. Footprint OnChain stamps every photo and file individually as well as the site as a whole, precisely so partial copying is provable too.
The DMCA is U.S. law, but most reputable hosts worldwide respond to well-documented notices, and Google applies its removal processes globally. Your timestamped evidence travels well: a hash anchored to the Bitcoin blockchain proves timing in any jurisdiction. Local advice matters for court action abroad.
Escalate in order: the host's abuse department again with your full evidence pack, the domain registrar's abuse contact, a lawyer's cease-and-desist letter, and then formal options — federal court, or the Copyright Claims Board (ccb.gov) for eligible smaller claims. Providers that ignore valid notices risk their own safe harbor, which is real leverage.
It does not create the copyright, but it removes the "I didn't know" excuse, deters casual copiers, and is free. Do it — in the footer, with the year and your business name.
We prepare the evidence; the notice itself comes from you (or your lawyer or agent), because it must be signed by the owner or someone authorised to act for them, under penalty of perjury. Your evidence pack is assembled so that filing is mostly a copy-and-attach exercise.
Official sources: U.S. Copyright Office · The DMCA — Copyright Office summary (PDF) · Copyright Claims Board. Questions about your own protection: call 510-619-0213 or use the contact page.