Copyright and content notice policy

1. Where we stand

Our customers are photographers. Copyright is not an abstraction to them, and a service that shrugged at infringement would be an odd place for them to keep their life's work. We act on properly made notices quickly.

We are a hosting provider. We do not monitor what customers publish and are not obliged to, but once we have actual knowledge of infringing material we act expeditiously to remove it or disable access to it.

2. Sending a copyright notice

Email abuse@noddable.com with the subject line "Copyright notice". Include all of the following, or we will have to come back to you and it will take longer:

1. The exact location. The full URL of each item complained of. A homepage address is not enough — we cannot act on "somewhere on this site".
2. The work. What is being infringed, and where the original can be seen, or a copy of it.
3. Your standing. Whether you are the rights holder or authorised to act for them, and if the latter, for whom.
4. Your details. Name, address and email address, so that we can contact you and so that the customer can respond.
5. A statement that you believe in good faith that the use is not authorised by the rights holder, its agent or the law, and that the information you have given is accurate.

The same address takes notices about any other illegal content. If the complaint is not about copyright, the report content page explains what to include instead.

3. What we do with it

1. We acknowledge receipt promptly, and by return where the notice is complete. We assess it ourselves rather than removing automatically.
2. Where the notice is well founded, we disable access to the specific material — not, ordinarily, the whole site. We aim to do this within one working day of a complete notice.
3. We tell the customer what was removed, on what ground, who complained (unless the law prevents it), whether any part of the decision was automated, and how to contest it.
4. We tell you what we have done. If we decide the notice is not well founded we tell you that too, and why, so you can take it further if you wish.

4. If your content was removed

You can contest it by replying to the statement of reasons we sent you, within 6 months. Say why you believe the material was lawful — you hold the copyright, you have a licence, the use is covered by an exception such as quotation or criticism, or it was wrongly identified.

We consider every challenge, by a person and not by an automated process, and reinstate content where the challenge succeeds. We will tell you the outcome and our reasons. If we uphold the removal you are free to pursue the matter in court, and our decision does not settle who is right.

Using this route costs you nothing and does not count against your account. A challenge made in good faith that turns out to be wrong is not a breach of our terms.

5. Repeat infringers

We keep a record of upheld notices against an account. Where a customer repeatedly publishes infringing material, and after at least one written warning that explains what will happen, we will terminate the account. We apply this with judgement: three upheld notices about three different works is a pattern, and one contested notice is not.

6. US customers and the DMCA

We are established in England and Wales and this policy is written under UK law. Where the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act applies, a notice under section 512(c) may be sent to the same address and we will handle it under the process above, which is designed to meet the notice-and-takedown and counter-notice requirements of that section.

[Before launch: if US safe harbour is wanted, a designated agent must be registered with the US Copyright Office and named here with their address. Registration is not automatic and the safe harbour is not available without it.]

7. Notices sent in bad faith

A notice is a serious document. Knowingly misrepresenting that material is infringing can make you liable for the resulting loss, and a notice sent to suppress lawful criticism, competition or someone else's photograph of the same subject is an abuse of this process. We decline notices we judge to be made in bad faith, and we may refuse to act on further notices from a sender who repeatedly submits them.