Takedown Requests – How to Report and Protect Your Rights
At Goodnotes, we are committed to providing a safe and respectful space for all users. This includes ensuring that content shared through our platform respects copyright, intellectual property, and complies with legal requirements. We understand that sometimes, content may be shared between users that infringes on someone's rights or is harmful, and we're here to help protect you and others.
Here’s a simple guide on how our takedown process works and how you can report content that may violate your rights.
What is the Takedown Process?
If you believe that your intellectual property (such as your copyright or trademark) or illegal content is shared with you, we have a clear process in place to help. Here’s what you need to do:
- Report the Content: If you believe content violates your rights, you can report it by submitting a complaint via our easy-to-use form.
- Provide Evidence: When filing a complaint, we ask that copyright holders provide evidence of their work and how it has been infringed. For trademark owners, you’ll need to provide details about your trademark, the areas in which it’s protected, and exactly what you’re concerned about.
- We Review: Once we receive your complaint, we’ll review the content in question to make sure it follows the rules. We take all complaints seriously and will act accordingly, whether that means removing the content or reaching out to the user who posted it.
- User Notification: If we remove or disable access to content, we’ll notify the user who shared it.
What Happens if You’re Accused of Violating Rights?
If you’re the one accused of posting content that violates someone else’s rights, don’t worry. You have the opportunity to submit a counternotice. This gives you a chance to explain if you believe the claim is mistaken or misidentified. We will review your submission and ensure that everything is fair.
Please note: Content may be suspended or removed while we review the situation, but we’ll work with you to resolve any issues quickly.
Why Do We Have This Takedown Policy?
We’ve created this policy to comply with laws that protect intellectual property and ensure that we operate in a safe, legal environment for all users. Specifically:
- DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act): In the U.S., this law protects copyright holders and gives them a way to report infringement. If your copyrighted work is shared without your permission, the DMCA process allows you to ask us to take it down.
- Online Safety Act: This law applies because Goodnotes is a platform where users share content with one another. As a user-to-user service, we must ensure that harmful or unlawful content is removed when reported. This is to keep the community safe and in line with current regulations.
What Kind of Content Can Be Reported?
We handle reports of two main types of content:
- Intellectual Property Infringement: If someone uses your copyrighted work, trademark, or another protected asset without your permission, we take this seriously. We’ll help you remove it through the DMCA process (if you're in the U.S.) or our other legal channels for global users.
- Illegal or Harmful Content: If you come across content that is illegal, harmful, or violates the rules of Goodnotes, you can report it to us. Not all inappropriate content necessarily violates the law, but we review complaints to make sure everything is in compliance with our Terms and Conditions.
What Happens After You Submit a Complaint?
- We will review the content and decide whether it should be removed.
- If we decide the content violates our terms, we will remove it or disable access.
- If you are the person who uploaded the content, we will give you the chance to submit a counternotice if you feel the complaint was a mistake.
What Can You Do if You Disagree with a Decision?
If we take action against your content (like removing it), you have 3 months to dispute the decision. We’ll make reasonable efforts to respond to your complaint in a timely manner.
Other Important Information
- False Claims: We take false or malicious claims seriously and may disregard complaints that seem unfounded or frivolous.
- Repeat Violations: If someone repeatedly violates the rules, we may take further action, including suspending or terminating their account.
- Support: If you have questions about this process or need assistance, feel free to reach out to our support team at support@goodnotes.com.