DMCA Copyright Policy

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a United States federal law enacted in 1998 that implements two 1996 World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaties. Title II of the DMCA, codified at 17 U.S.C. sections 512 et seq., creates a safe harbor framework that protects qualifying online service providers from monetary liability for copyright infringement by their users, provided the service provider satisfies specific statutory conditions.

SGSuperFans is an interactive online platform that hosts user-generated content. We qualify as an online service provider under the DMCA and maintain our eligibility for safe harbor protection through full compliance with the statute. Because creators on our platform earn real income from their original content, we treat intellectual property protection as a core operational obligation, not a mere legal formality.

What This Policy Covers

• Our designation of a registered Copyright Agent to receive infringement notices.
• The complete requirements for a valid DMCA takedown notice under 17 U.S.C. section 512(c)(3).
• The complete requirements for a valid counter-notification under 17 U.S.C. section 512(g)(3).
• Our step-by-step notice processing and reinstatement procedures.
• Our repeat infringer termination policy, required by 17 U.S.C. section 512(i).
• Liability for misrepresentation under 17 U.S.C. section 512(f).
• Protections against circumvention of technical measures under 17 U.S.C. section 1201.
• How international copyright laws interact with our procedures.

Under 17 U.S.C. section 512, SGSuperFans qualifies for safe harbor protection from monetary liability for copyright infringement committed by our users. Safe harbor does not mean we ignore infringement. It means that when we follow the DMCA process correctly and act expeditiously on valid notices, we are protected from damages claims arising from a user's infringing upload. This protection exists to ensure that legitimate platforms can operate without assuming insurer-level liability for the actions of millions of independent users.

Section 512(c): Storage at User Direction

The primary safe harbor applicable to SGSuperFans covers content stored at the direction of users. To maintain this protection, we must:

• Have no actual knowledge of specific infringing material, and upon obtaining such knowledge, act expeditiously to remove or disable access to it.
• Not receive a direct financial benefit specifically attributable to infringing activity, where we have the right and ability to control that activity.
• Designate a Copyright Agent registered with the U.S. Copyright Office and make the agent's contact information publicly available.
• Respond expeditiously to remove or disable access to infringing material upon receiving a compliant takedown notice.

Section 512(i): Conditions for All Safe Harbors

To benefit from any safe harbor under section 512, we must also:

• Have adopted and reasonably implemented a policy for terminating accounts of users who are repeat copyright infringers.
• Inform users of that policy in the Terms of Service.
• Accommodate and not interfere with standard technical measures used by copyright owners to identify or protect their works.

No Waiver of Rights

Our compliance with the DMCA safe harbor system does not constitute a waiver of any rights, defenses, or claims that SGSuperFans may have under applicable law, including but not limited to defenses of fair use, license, implied license, or any equitable doctrine.

In compliance with 17 U.S.C. section 512(c)(2), SGSuperFans has designated a Copyright Agent with the United States Copyright Office to receive notifications of claimed copyright infringement. All DMCA notices must be directed to this agent. Notices sent to any other address or department will not be processed under this policy and will not preserve any statutory rights.

Response Timeframes

• Initial acknowledgment of receipt: within 24 hours of receiving a complete notice.
• Substantive response and determination: within 48 business hours.
• Content removal for valid, complete notices: within 24 to 72 hours of determination.
• Counter-notification processing (forwarding to complainant): within 48 hours of receipt.

To submit a valid DMCA takedown notice pursuant to 17 U.S.C. section 512(c)(3), your written notice must include all of the following elements. An incomplete notice will not trigger our statutory obligation to act, and we may disregard or ask you to resubmit. We are not required to process notices that lack required elements.

1. Identification of the Copyrighted Work

Provide a clear and specific description of the copyrighted work you claim has been infringed. If multiple works are covered by a single notice, a representative list is acceptable, but each work must be sufficiently identified. Include:

• The title of the work (film, song, photograph, written article, etc.).
• The copyright registration number if the work is registered with the U.S. Copyright Office or any other national copyright registry.
• A URL to an authorized version of the work, if one is publicly available online.

2. Identification of the Infringing Material

You must identify the specific material you allege infringes your work with enough detail for us to locate it. Vague descriptions are insufficient. Provide:

• The exact URL(s) of the allegedly infringing content on SGSuperFans. A URL pointing to a creator's profile page is not sufficient; provide the direct URL to the specific post, video, or image.
• A description of where the material appears if a URL is unavailable (for example, a description identifying the creator name, post title, date posted, and content type).
• Screenshots may accompany your notice but are not a substitute for a URL.

3. Your Contact Information

• Your full legal name (or the full legal name of the rights holder you represent).
• Your physical mailing address.
• Your telephone number.
• Your email address.

4. Good Faith Statement

Your notice must include the following statement, verbatim:

5. Accuracy Statement Under Penalty of Perjury

Your notice must include the following statement, verbatim:

6. Physical or Electronic Signature

The notice must be signed by the copyright owner or a person authorized to act on the owner's behalf. An electronic signature (typing your full name preceded by “/s/” or a similar indicator) is acceptable.

How to Submit

• By email to dmca@sgsuperfans.com with the subject line “DMCA Takedown Notice.” This is the preferred and fastest method.
• By postal mail to the Copyright Agent address listed in Section 3. Postal delivery significantly extends processing time and is not recommended for urgent matters.

Upon receiving a DMCA takedown notice, SGSuperFans follows a consistent, documented internal process designed to balance the rights of copyright owners with the due process rights of the user who posted the content.

Step 1: Initial Review (0 to 24 Hours)

• Our Copyright Team reviews the notice for the presence of all required statutory elements under 17 U.S.C. section 512(c)(3).
• We verify that the complaining party has provided sufficient contact information and a valid signature.
• We attempt to locate the specific allegedly infringing material using the URLs or descriptions provided.
• We send an acknowledgment of receipt to the submitter within 24 hours.

Step 2: Completeness Determination

• If the notice is missing required elements, we may notify the submitter of the deficiency and allow an opportunity to correct and resubmit. We are not obligated to do this and may decline to process materially deficient notices.
• If the notice is clearly abusive, harassing, or submitted in obvious bad faith, we will decline to process it and may take action against the submitter.
• If the notice is complete and valid, we proceed to the next step.

Step 3: Content Action (24 to 72 Hours After Determination)

• We remove or disable access to the specifically identified content.
• We document the removal with a timestamp and a copy of the operative notice.
• We assign a case reference number that both the submitter and the affected user may use in future communications.

Step 4: User Notification

• We notify the user whose content was removed by email and in-platform notification.
• We provide the user with a copy of the takedown notice (redacted of personally identifiable information as appropriate to protect the complaining party from retaliation).
• We inform the user of their right to submit a counter-notification as described in Sections 6 and 7.
• We inform the user that the removal constitutes a strike against their account under our Repeat Infringer Policy (Section 8).

Expedited Processing

Certain categories of content warrant immediate action without waiting for the standard 24-to-72-hour window:

• Child sexual abuse material (CSAM): Immediate removal, account termination, and mandatory referral to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and law enforcement.
• Non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII): Immediate removal pending investigation.
• Content subject to a valid court order: Immediate compliance with the court's directive.
• Clear-cut commercial piracy of third-party premium content: Expedited review prioritized within 12 hours.

If your content was removed as a result of a DMCA takedown notice and you believe the removal was made in error, for example because you own or have a license to use the content, or because the use qualifies as fair use under copyright law, you have the right to submit a counter-notification pursuant to 17 U.S.C. section 512(g)(3).

Submitting a counter-notification is a legal act. Do not submit a counter-notification unless you genuinely believe the content was removed by mistake or misidentification. False counter-notifications expose you to liability under 17 U.S.C. section 512(f).

Required Elements of a Counter-Notification

1. Identification of the Removed Material

• A description of the material that was removed or to which access was disabled.
• The URL where the material was located on SGSuperFans before it was removed.
• The case reference number provided in our removal notification to you.

2. Your Contact Information

• Your full legal name.
• Your physical mailing address.
• Your telephone number.
• Your email address.

3. Statement of Consent to Jurisdiction

Your counter-notification must include the following statement verbatim:

4. Good Faith Statement Under Penalty of Perjury

Your counter-notification must include the following statement verbatim:

5. Physical or Electronic Signature

The counter-notification must be signed by you or your authorized representative. An electronic signature is acceptable.

How to Submit a Counter-Notification

• By email to dmca@sgsuperfans.com with the subject line “DMCA Counter-Notification.”
• Include the case reference number from our removal notice in your email.

When we receive a complete and valid counter-notification, we follow the procedural requirements of 17 U.S.C. section 512(g)(2), which establishes a waiting period that gives the original complainant an opportunity to seek judicial relief before content is restored.

Step 1: Validation (0 to 48 Hours)

• We review the counter-notification for the presence of all required statutory elements.
• We confirm that the person submitting the counter-notification is the user whose content was removed.
• We send you an acknowledgment of receipt.

Step 2: Forwarding to the Complainant (within 48 Hours of Validation)

• We send a copy of your complete counter-notification, including your contact information, to the original complainant.
• We notify the complainant that we will restore the removed content unless they file a court action within the statutory window.

Step 3: Statutory Waiting Period (10 to 14 Business Days)

• The content remains removed during this period.
• The original complainant has between 10 and 14 business days to notify us that they have filed an action in a court of competent jurisdiction seeking a court order to restrain the allegedly infringing activity.
• This waiting period cannot be shortened. We cannot restore content before it has elapsed, regardless of the apparent merits of your counter-notification.

Step 4: Reinstatement or Continued Removal

• If no court action notification is received within 10 to 14 business days, we will restore the removed content to its original location and notify you by email.
• If the complainant provides timely notice of a court filing, the content remains removed pending resolution of that court proceeding. SGSuperFans will comply with any court order issued in the litigation.
• If the court action is resolved in your favor, we will promptly restore the content upon receiving a copy of the relevant court order.

As a condition of safe harbor protection under 17 U.S.C. section 512(i)(1)(A), SGSuperFans has adopted and implements a written policy for the termination of accounts of users who are repeat copyright infringers. This policy is enforced consistently and without favoritism regardless of a creator's revenue, follower count, or tenure on the platform.

Three-Strike System

Each valid, substantiated DMCA takedown notice that results in a confirmed content removal constitutes one strike against the responsible user's account. Strikes are tracked in our internal compliance system.

Immediate Termination (No Strike Warning Required)

In certain egregious circumstances, SGSuperFans reserves the right to terminate an account immediately and without prior warning, bypassing the three-strike process entirely. These circumstances include:

• Willful infringement for direct commercial gain, such as uploading content commercially licensed to another party and charging subscribers to access it.
• Uploading known pirated content, including full-length third-party films, television programs, music albums, or other premium content that the user clearly does not own.
• Circumventing or attempting to circumvent our access controls or technical protection measures to access or distribute protected content.
• Creating a new account after a prior termination for copyright infringement in order to evade the repeat infringer policy.
• Using our platform primarily or substantially as a vehicle for infringing the intellectual property rights of third parties.

Strike Expiration

• Individual strikes that did not result in account termination expire after 12 consecutive months of zero new copyright violations, provided the account remains in full compliance with these Terms throughout that period.
• Upon the first new violation during the expiration period, the clock resets and the expiration timer restarts.
• Strikes arising from content that was subsequently found to be non-infringing following a successful counter-notification will be removed from the user's record.

Appeals Process

• Users may appeal any strike by emailing appeals@sgsuperfans.com within 30 days of the notice of removal.
• Appeals are reviewed by a senior member of our Trust and Safety team within 7 business days.
• A strike will be reversed on appeal only where the underlying takedown notice is determined to have been invalid, fraudulent, or the result of a good-faith mistake.
• Appeal decisions are final and binding within the platform.

Congress recognized that the DMCA's takedown mechanism could be weaponized. Section 512(f) of the DMCA imposes statutory liability on any person who knowingly and materially misrepresents in a notification or counter-notification that material is infringing, or that material was removed or disabled by mistake or misidentification.

Liability for False Takedown Notices

Under 17 U.S.C. section 512(f), a person who knowingly materially misrepresents that material is infringing is liable for:

• All damages incurred by the alleged infringer as a result of the removal, including lost earnings.
• All damages incurred by SGSuperFans as a result of relying on the misrepresentation.
• Costs and attorney's fees.

Common Forms of DMCA Abuse

The following practices constitute potential DMCA abuse and may produce legal liability for the submitter. SGSuperFans actively investigates suspected abuse:

• Filing a notice for content you do not own and have no legal right to claim, including content you once licensed but no longer hold rights to.
• Filing a notice designed to suppress criticism, commentary, parody, or satire of you or your work, where such use likely qualifies as fair use.
• Filing a notice to harm a competitor or to remove content for business reasons unrelated to genuine copyright ownership.
• Filing a notice against a creator who has a documented license to use the work in question.
• Using the DMCA process as a tool of harassment against a specific user or creator.

SGSuperFans' Response to Suspected Abuse

• We investigate all complaints of suspected DMCA abuse received at abuse@sgsuperfans.com.
• We may decline to process any notice that on its face appears to constitute abuse, harassment, or a bad faith attempt to suppress lawful content.
• We may permanently ban complainants whose notices are repeatedly found to be in bad faith from submitting further notices.
• We reserve the right to pursue or cooperate in pursuing all available legal remedies against parties who file abusive notices that cause us or our users harm.

The DMCA does not alter or diminish the fair use doctrine under 17 U.S.C. section 107. Fair use is a complete defense to copyright infringement and, if applicable, would mean that the content in question was never infringing in the first place. Complainants are expected to consider fair use before filing a takedown notice. A notice filed without genuine consideration of whether the content qualifies as fair use may itself constitute a misrepresentation under 17 U.S.C. section 512(f).

The Four Fair Use Factors

Courts evaluate fair use by weighing four statutory factors. No single factor is determinative, and all four must be considered together:

• Purpose and character of the use: Commercial use weighs against fair use; transformative use (adding new expression, meaning, or message) weighs strongly in favor. Commentary, criticism, parody, and satire frequently qualify as transformative.
• Nature of the copyrighted work: Using factual works is more likely to be fair use than using highly creative works such as films, music, or literary fiction.
• Amount and substantiality of the portion used: Using a small portion weighs in favor of fair use, though courts also consider whether the portion used is the “heart” of the original work.
• Effect on the market for the original: If widespread use of the content in the defendant's manner would harm the market for the original or its licensed derivatives, this factor weighs against fair use.

Common Uses That May Qualify as Fair Use

• Commentary on a creator's work or public statements, where the content is quoted to illustrate the commentary.
• Criticism or review of creative works, incorporating brief clips or excerpts sufficient to support the critique.
• Parody that imitates or mocks the original work specifically, rather than using the original as a vehicle to satirize something else.
• Educational presentations that use copyrighted material for illustration in a non-commercial instructional context.
• News reporting on matters of public concern that incidentally incorporates copyrighted material.

Important Limitations

• Crediting the original author does not create or expand a fair use defense. Attribution and fair use are independent doctrines.
• Non-commercial use is not automatically fair use. A personal, non-commercial use that substitutes for the original in the market will likely fail the fourth fair use factor.
• Using only a small portion is not automatically fair use if that portion is qualitatively central to the original work.

Title I of the DMCA, codified at 17 U.S.C. section 1201, prohibits the circumvention of technological measures that control access to or protect the rights of copyright owners in copyrighted works. These provisions are separate from and in addition to the notice-and-takedown provisions of Title II.

Technical Protection Measures in Use on SGSuperFans

• Subscriber-only access controls that require a valid, paid subscription token to view gated content from a creator.
• Pay-per-view access controls that require a valid purchase transaction before content is decrypted and delivered.
• Invisible digital watermarking embedded in distributed content to trace unauthorized re-distribution of creator material.
• Rate limits and bot-detection systems to prevent automated mass-downloading of content from the platform.
• Direct message content protections that prevent automated screenshot or forwarding of paid-access private media.

Strictly Prohibited Activities Under Section 1201

• Circumventing authentication and access controls to view subscriber or pay-per-view content without a valid purchase or subscription.
• Removing, obscuring, altering, or defeating embedded digital watermarks or any other copyright management information embedded in content.
• Developing, distributing, or using any software, service, device, or technique that is primarily designed to circumvent our access controls or content protection systems.
• Using automated tools, scripts, bots, or browser extensions to bulk-download, scrape, or archive creator content without written authorization.
• Sharing any circumvention method, code, or tool with other users, even if you did not develop it yourself.

Consequences

• Immediate and permanent termination of your account on the platform.
• Civil liability under 17 U.S.C. section 1203 for actual damages, statutory damages of up to $2,500 per act of circumvention, and attorney's fees.
• Criminal liability under 17 U.S.C. section 1204 for willful circumvention for commercial advantage or private financial gain, including fines of up to $500,000 and imprisonment for up to five years for a first offense.
• Referral to law enforcement and cooperation with any subsequent criminal investigation.

Responsible Disclosure

If you discover a vulnerability in our technical protection measures through legitimate security research, please report it responsibly to security@sgsuperfans.com before taking any action that could constitute circumvention. We will investigate all good-faith security reports and may offer recognition to researchers who report valid, significant vulnerabilities.

While SGSuperFans is incorporated in Canada and our DMCA policy is grounded in United States copyright law, we operate a global platform and are committed to respecting intellectual property rights under the laws of all jurisdictions from which our users access the platform. The following summarizes the key international frameworks that interact with our procedures.

Canada: Copyright Act and Notice-and-Notice Regime

• Canadian copyright law is governed by the Copyright Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-42, as amended by the Copyright Modernization Act (2012).
• Canada employs a “notice-and-notice” regime under sections 41.25 to 41.27, which requires intermediaries to forward rightholder notices to the alleged infringer rather than automatically removing content. We comply with this regime in relation to Canadian ISP obligations while also immediately processing valid DMCA-style takedown requests for actual removal.
• Canadian fair dealing rights under section 29 of the Copyright Act include categories such as research, private study, education, parody, satire, criticism, and news reporting.
• We accept notices from Canadian rights holders and process them with the same priority as DMCA notices, applying the substantive standards of whichever law is more protective of the rights holder's interests.

European Union: Digital Services Act and E-Commerce Directive

• The EU E-Commerce Directive (2000/31/EC), Article 14, provides hosting safe harbor protection conditional on expeditious removal upon actual knowledge of infringing content.
• The EU Digital Services Act (DSA), which became fully applicable in February 2024, imposes additional obligations on platforms regarding notice-and-action mechanisms, transparent content moderation, and reporting for designated Very Large Platforms. We monitor our designation status and comply with applicable DSA obligations.
• The EU Copyright Directive (2019/790/EC), Article 17, imposes upload filter obligations on certain larger platforms. We monitor our obligations under Article 17 and will comply as applicable thresholds are met.

United Kingdom: CDPA and Online Safety Act

• UK copyright is governed primarily by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA), as amended.
• The UK Online Safety Act 2023 imposes new safety duties on user-to-user services and search services. We are actively monitoring our obligations under this Act and will implement required measures as the regulatory framework is finalized.

International Treaties

• We respect copyright protections required under the Berne Convention, the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), and the WIPO Copyright Treaty.
• Berne Convention works enjoy automatic copyright protection in all signatory nations without registration formalities. You do not need a registered copyright to file a valid DMCA notice with us.

International Submissions

• We accept takedown notices from rights holders in any jurisdiction worldwide.
• All international notices should follow the DMCA format described in Section 4 as closely as possible. We will communicate any jurisdictionally necessary adjustments.
• Notices may be submitted in English. We may request translation assistance if a notice is submitted in another language, which may extend processing time.

The following contacts are available for copyright and platform integrity matters. Please direct your inquiry to the correct contact to ensure prompt handling.

Mailing Address

For correspondence that must be sent by post (for example, to preserve legal formalities in certain jurisdictions):

External Resources

• U.S. Copyright Office: copyright.gov - For information on copyright registration and DMCA agent designations.
• Full text of the DMCA: copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf
• Canadian Intellectual Property Office: ic.gc.ca - For Canadian copyright resources.
• Electronic Frontier Foundation Fair Use FAQ: eff.org - Independent resource on fair use rights.