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  Fair use policy Certain uses of copyrighted material may not require the copyright owner’s permission. In the United States, this concept is known as fair use. Some other countries have a similar concept known as fair dealing. Whether or not a certain use of copyrighted material constitutes a fair use is ultimately determined by a court of law. Courts analyze fair use arguments by looking at four factors: The purpose and character of the use. How is the original work being used, and is the new use commercial? Transformative uses add something to the original work: commentary, criticism, educational explanation or additional context are a few examples. Transformative, non-commercial uses are more likely to be considered fair use. The nature of the copied work. What is the copied work itself? Is it factual (example: a record of a historical event) or fictional (example: a novel or Hollywood blockbuster)? Use of factual works weighs in favor of fair use. The amount and substantiality of the copied work. How much of the work was copied? Copying short excerpts is more likely to be found fair use than copying an entire copyrighted work. The effect on the copied work’s value. Will the copying harm the potential market for the copyrighted work by effectively creating a substitute or replacement for that work?  If so, the use is probably not fair use. Fair use determinations are made on a case by case basis, and there is no clear formula to determine whether a use may be found to be fair. If you are unsure whether a particular use of copyrighted work might be a fair use, you may want to seek legal advice. Scrooge is unable to advise whether your use may be considered fair use or not. For more information on fair use: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use https://ilt.eff.org/index.php/Copyright:_Fair_Use https://www.lumendatabase.org/ http://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/fair-use/four-factors/

  Copyright policy What types of copyright complaints does Social Scrooge (scrooge.social or scrooge) respond to? Scrooge responds to copyright complaints submitted under the European Community law (including Directive 2019/790), international conventions (including the Bern Convention and the Rome Convention, the TRIPs agreement, the WIPO treaties) as well as Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”). Follow the guidelines for filing a complaint about alleged copyright infringement by clicking here. Scrooge will respond to reports of alleged copyright infringement, such as allegations concerning the unauthorized use of a copyrighted image as a profile or header photo, allegations concerning the unauthorized use of a copyrighted video or image uploaded through our media hosting services, or posts containing links to allegedly infringing materials. Note that not all unauthorized uses of copyrighted materials are infringements (see our "fair use" policy for more information).   If you are concerned about the use of your brand or entity’s name, please review Scrooge trademark policy. Am I a copyright holder? How do I know? If you are unsure whether you hold rights to a particular work, please consult an attorney or another adviser as Scrooge cannot provide legal advice. There are plenty of resources to learn more about copyright law including http://copyright.gov, http://www.eff.org/issues/bloggers/legal/liability/IP,  just to name a few, https://europa.eu/youreurope/business/running-business/intellectual-property/copyright/index_en.htm, https://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/berne/, https://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/rome/, https://www.wipo.int/portal/en/index.html, https://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/wct/, https://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/wppt/, https://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/beijing/, https://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/marrakesh/,    What to consider before submitting a copyright complaint Before submitting a copyright complaint to us, please consider whether or not the use could be considered fair use.  If you have considered fair use, and you still wish to continue with a copyright complaint, you may want to first reach out to the user in question to see if you can resolve the matter directly with the user. You can reply to the user’s post or send the user a Direct Message and ask for them to remove your copyrighted content without having to contact Scrooge.  Before you submit a formal complaint to scrooge, please be aware that you may be liable for any damages, including costs and attorney's fees incurred by us or our users, if you knowingly materially misrepresent such material or activity is infringing. If you are unsure whether the material you are reporting is actually infringing, you may want to contact an attorney before notifying us. Note: In general, the photographer, and NOT the subject of a photograph, is the actual owner of the rights to the resulting photograph. If you are unsure whether or not you own the copyright in a work, or whether you are infringing someone else's work, please consult an attorney or other advisor.   What information do you need to process a copyright complaint? To submit a notice of claimed copyright infringement, you will need to provide us with the following information: A physical or electronic signature (typing your full name will suffice) of the copyright owner or a person authorized to act on their behalf; Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed (e.g., a link to your original work or clear description of the materials allegedly being infringed upon); Identification of the infringing material and information reasonably sufficient to permit Scrooge to locate the material on our website or services; Your contact information, including your address, telephone number, and an email address; A statement that you have a good faith belief that the use of the material in the manner asserted is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and A statement that the information in the complaint is accurate, and, under penalty of perjury, that you are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner.  If you are reporting the content of a post, please give us a direct link to that post. Or please specify if the alleged infringement is in the header, avatar, etc. A LINK TO A PROFILE PAGE IS INSUFFICIENT FOR SCROOGE TO IDENTIFY INFRINGING MATERIALS.   How do I file a copyright complaint? by visiting the documents section of the Social Scrooge protocol, and clicking on Open ticket in the main menu at the top right, or you can simply click here: open report. Filing a complaint is the start of a pre-defined legal process. Your complaint will be reviewed for accuracy, validity, and completeness. If your complaint has satisfied these requirements, we will take action on your request - which includes forwarding a full copy of your notice (including your name, address, phone and email address) to the user(s) who posted the allegedly infringing material in question. If you are concerned about your contact information being forwarded, you may wish to use an agent to report for you. Please be aware that you may be liable for any damages, including costs and attorneys’ fees incurred by us or our users, if you knowingly materially misrepresent that material or activity is infringing. If you are unsure whether the material you are reporting is in fact infringing, you may wish to contact an attorney before filing a copyright complaint.   How are claims processed? We process copyright complaints in the order in which they are received. Once you've submitted your ticket, we will email you a ticket confirmation. If you do not receive a ticket confirmation that means we did not receive your complaint and you should re-submit your complaint. However, please note, submitting duplicate copyright complaints will result in a delay in processing. If we decide to remove or disable access to the material, we will notify the affected user(s) and provide them with a full copy of the reporter’s complaint (including the provided contact information) along with instructions on how to file a counter-notice.   How are claims processed? We process copyright complaints in the order in which they are received. Once you've submitted your ticket, we will email you a ticket confirmation. If you do not receive a ticket confirmation that means we did not receive your complaint and you should re-submit your complaint. However, please note, submitting duplicate copyright complaints will result in a delay in processing.   If we decide to remove or disable access to the material, we will notify the affected user(s) and provide them with a full copy of the reporter’s complaint (including the provided contact information) along with instructions on how to file a counter-notice.   What information gets forwarded to the reported user(s)? If we remove or disable access to the materials reported in a copyright complaint, the reported user(s) will receive a copy of the complaint, including the reporter’s full name, email, street address, and any other information included in the complaint.    If you are uncomfortable sharing your contact information with the reported user(s), you may wish to consider appointing an agent to submit your notice on your behalf. Your agent will be required to submit the notice with valid contact information, and identify you as the content owner that they are representing.    What happens next? Scrooge's response to copyright complaints may include the removal or restriction of access to allegedly infringing material. If we remove or restrict access to user content in response to a copyright complaint, Scrooge will make a good faith effort to contact the affected account holder with information concerning the removal or restriction of access, including a full copy of the complaint, along with instructions for filing a counter-notice. If you’ve not yet received a copy of the copyright complaint regarding the content removed from your account, please respond to the support ticket we sent you. In an effort to be as transparent as possible regarding the removal or restriction of access to user-posted content, we clearly mark withheld posts and media to indicate to viewers when content has been withheld (examples below).   My content was removed from SCROOGE Why did I receive a copyright complaint? If you receive a copyright complaint, it means that access to the content described in the complaint has been restricted. Please take the time to read through our correspondence to you, which includes information on the complaint we received as well as instructions on how to file a counter-notice. Please ensure that you are monitoring the email address associated with your Scrooge account. Tip: Removing the material reported in a copyright complaint will not resolve that complaint   What if I want to contest the takedown? If you believe that the materials reported in the copyright complaints were misidentified or removed in error, you may send us a counter-notification(s) through our Help Center. A counter-notice is a request for Scrooge to reinstate the removed material, and it has legal consequences. Alternatively, you may be able to seek a retraction of the copyright complaint from the reporter.   How do I seek a retraction? The complaint received includes the reporter's contact information. You could contact them and ask them to withdraw their notification by opening a ticket on our ticket platform in the documents section (simply clicking here). Such ticket should include in attachment: (1) identification of the material that has been disabled, and (2) a statement that the reporting party would like to retract their notification. A retraction is at the sole discretion of the original reporter and only that reporter may issue a retraction. If a portion of your post has been withheld, the violation will not be resolved by simply deleting the remaining portion.   When should I file a counter-notice? A counter-notice is a request for Scrooge to reinstate the removed material, and is the start of a legal process that has legal consequences.  For example, submitting a counter notice indicates that you consent to the jurisdiction of a U.S. Federal court and that you consent to the disclosure of your personal information to the reporter. With these considerations in mind, you may file a counter-notice if you believe that this material was misidentified, or you have a good faith belief that the material should not have been removed.  If you’re unsure whether or not you should file a counter-notice, you may want to consult with an attorney. Tip: Re-posting material removed in response to a copyright complaint may result in permanent account suspension. If you believe the content was removed in error, please file a counter-notice rather than re-posting the material.    What information do you need to process a counter-notice? To submit a counter-notice, you will need to provide us with the following information: A physical or electronic signature (typing your full name will suffice); Your full name, address (including country), telephone number, and for verification purposes, your Scrooge username and associated email; Identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled, and the location at which the material appeared before that removal or disabling (the description from the copyright notice will suffice); A statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled; and the following jurisdictional consent statements:  "I consent to any judicial district in which X may be found, and I’ll accept service of process from the person who provided notice under 17 U.S.C. 512 (c)(1)(C) or an agent of such person." To send a counter notification, provide all of the above information by opening a ticket via the documents section of the Social Scrooge Protocol (simply by clicking here).   What happens after I submit a counter-notice? Upon receipt of a valid counter-notice, we will promptly forward a copy to the person who filed the original notice. This means that the contact information that is submitted in your counter-notice will be shared to the person who filed the original notice.  If the copyright owner disagrees that the content was removed in error or misidentification, they may pursue legal action against you.  If we do not receive notice within 10 business days that the original reporter is seeking a court order to prevent further infringement of the material at issue, we may replace or cease disabling access to the material that was removed. We cannot offer any legal advice. Should you have questions, please consult an attorney. Filing a copyright complaint or counter-notice is serious business! Please think twice before submitting a claim or counter-notice, especially if you are unsure whether you are the actual rights holder or authorized to act on a rights holder’s behalf. There are legal and financial consequences for fraudulent and/or bad faith submissions. Please be sure that you are the actual rights holder, or that you have a good faith belief that the material was removed in error, and that you understand the repercussions of submitting a false claim.   What happens if my account receives one or more copyright complaints? If multiple copyright complaints are received about an account, or other evidence suggests a pattern of repeat infringement, Scrooge may suspend that account in accordance with our Repeat Infringer Policy. Our Repeat Infringer Policy takes valid retractions and counter-notices into account. Users suspended under that policy may file a suspension appeal using this form. Additionally, reposting previously removed material in response to a copyright complaint, indicating where to access copyrighted material on third-party websites, or certain other actions demonstrating that your account is intended solely or primarily to infringe the copyrighted material of others may result in permanent suspension of your account. If you are suspended for this reason, you can appeal by sending us a Ticket by clicking here. Please note that appealing your suspension does not guarantee that your account will be reinstated.