DMCA Takedown Notice Requirements: What Makes a Notice Valid

17 USC 512(c)(3)(A) requires that a valid DMCA notice contain:

1. Physical or electronic signature. Of the copyright owner or authorized agent. This identifies who is making the claim.
2. Identification of the copyrighted work. The specific work the complainant claims is being infringed. A list of multiple works is acceptable. Vague claims (all your copyrighted works) may be challenged.
3. Identification of the infringing material. Specific URL or other information sufficient for the service provider to locate the material. Notices targeting entire domains or generic descriptions are often insufficient.
4. Complainant contact information. Address, phone number, and email of the complaining party. Required for the service provider to communicate about the notice and for the content owner to serve legal process if needed.
5. Good faith statement. Statement that the complainant has a good faith belief that the use is not authorized by the copyright owner, agent, or law.
6. Accuracy statement under penalty of perjury. Statement that the information in the notice is accurate and the complainant is authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner.

DMCA notices that lack required elements can be rejected:

• No specific URL: Notices targeting an entire website or vague categories of content without specific URLs are defective. Courts have held that providers must be given enough information to locate the specific infringing material.
• Missing contact information: Anonymous notices without identifying information cannot be acted on legally. They may also be fraudulent.
• No specific copyright claim: Notices that don't identify the specific copyrighted work allegedly infringed may be defective.
• Sent to wrong party: DMCA notices must go to the service provider's registered DMCA agent. Notices sent to random email addresses or wrong contacts may not start the legal clock.
• Not under penalty of perjury: The accuracy statement must explicitly state it is made under penalty of perjury. This requirement is often satisfied by a standard DMCA notice template but may be missing from bot-generated notices.