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Some providers don't allow free-tier customers to respond to DMCA to have service restored. It appears from GitHub's policy, they do (https://help.github.com/articles/dmca-takedown-policy).

The ideal, since notice can be email, is to notify the infringer of a DMCA complaint and let them counter respond very quickly, to minimize any service interruption.

There are maximum response times, but no minimums. The entire process can be turned around from notice to "dude, you have DMCA" to "oh, hell no" inside an hour. (EDIT: Actually, this is incorrect. To do this requires various hacks, or accepting liability as the service provider.)

The secret is usually providers actually want to get rid of their DMCA-attracting clients for commercial/cost reasons, so they rarely are willing to make the process of response particularly efficient.



No, there is a minimum. The content has to remain down for at least 10 business days AFTER the counter is received by the hosting provider, to give time for the purported copyright owner to go get an injunction or other relief.

(The counter also requires disclosure of intensive amounts of personal data, which the initial notification does not, but that's probably the smallest problem with the DMCA system.)

See 512(g)(2) B and C of the DMCA for cites.


Ah! The times when it's gotten restored immediately involved a change in hosting or pointing out defects in the original notice, or the hosting provider accepting liability because the counter seemed sufficiently strong to take a stand. I didn't remember there was an actual 10-14 day lag written into the law.

(Thankfully, I've never been the one to actually handle DMCA issues from the service provider side myself.)




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