Guide
How to write a DMCA takedown notice (with a template)
By Alex Wrexford, author of The Takedown. Updated 4 November 2026.
A DMCA takedown notice is a written request asking a website or marketplace to remove material that copies your copyrighted work. To be effective under US law, it has to contain six things, set out in 17 U.S.C. 512(c)(3). Get them right and the platform has every reason to act, because it keeps its legal protection only by removing the material quickly. Leave one out and the notice may not count. If you've at least named the work, the listing and how to reach you, the platform is expected to contact you for the rest.
This guide is for the moment most brand owners meet the DMCA: you've just found your own product photo on someone else's listing. Annoying. Also very fixable.
What must a DMCA notice include?
Six elements. Here they are in the law's words (paraphrased lightly) and in plain English:
| # | What the law asks for | What it means for a product photo |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act for the owner. | Your name, typed, works as an electronic signature on most platform forms. If you're filing for your company, you need to be someone allowed to act for it. |
| 2 | Identification of the copyrighted work. | Your original: the link to your product page and, ideally, the photo itself. If one listing copied several of your photos, list them. |
| 3 | Identification of the infringing material, with enough information to locate it. | The exact listing URL and which photo on it is yours. One URL per listing. A link to a whole shop isn't enough. |
| 4 | Your contact information: address, phone number and, if available, email. | Real details the platform can use. Expect them to be passed to the seller if the seller pushes back. |
| 5 | A statement that you have a good faith belief the use isn't authorized by the owner, its agent, or the law. | You're saying you haven't licensed it and don't believe the law allows it. |
| 6 | A statement that the notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you're authorized to act for the owner. | This is the line that makes it serious. Only send it when you're sure. |
Is there a DMCA notice template I can copy?
Yes. This one is written for product photos. Swap the brackets for your details and, if the platform has a form, paste each part into the matching field.
To: [Platform] intellectual property team I am writing to report material on your service that infringes my copyright. 1. My copyrighted work: Product photos of [product name], published on my store at [link to your product page]. 2. The infringing material: [Listing URL 1], which uses my photo [describe which one, e.g. "the main photo"]. [Listing URL 2], which uses my photo [...]. 3. My contact details: [Full name], [Company], [Postal address], [Phone], [Email] 4. I have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law. 5. The information in this notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, I am authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the exclusive right that is allegedly infringed. Signed: [Full name] Date: [Date]
Where do you send it?
To the platform hosting the listing, through its own reporting route. For an independent website, to the company that hosts it. Not to the domain registrar: a registrar can only switch off the whole domain, and that's a much bigger hammer than one bad page deserves. Our where-to-report guide lists the routes we've checked.
Why do DMCA notices get rejected?
- A link to the seller's shop instead of the exact listing.
- No link to your original, so the platform can't compare.
- Missing the good faith statement or the accuracy statement.
- Using a DMCA notice for a trademark problem, like a fake with its own photos.
- Filed by someone with no visible connection to the brand.
What happens after you send it?
If the notice is complete, the platform removes or disables the listing and tells the seller. The seller can reply with a counter-notice. If they do, the platform sends it to you and restores the listing 10 to 14 business days later, unless you tell it you've filed a lawsuit (17 U.S.C. 512(g)). Keep your evidence until the listing is gone for good: a screenshot, the URL and the date you saw it.
And keep an eye out. Sellers relist, sometimes under a new name. That's where most of the real work in brand protection goes.
Questions people ask
Can I send a DMCA notice for a counterfeit that uses its own photos?
Usually not. A DMCA notice is about copyright. If they took their own photos of a fake, that's normally a trademark problem, so use the platform's trademark complaint instead.
Do I have to send the notice by email?
No. Use the platform's own form wherever it has one. The form maps to the same six elements and goes straight to the right team. Our list of where to report on each platform has the links.
Will the seller see my name and address?
They may. Platforms commonly pass the notice, or parts of it, to the seller, and a seller who files a counter-notice needs to know who complained. If that worries you, a lawyer or agent can file on your behalf.
What if I'm not sure it's my photo?
Don't send it. Knowingly and materially misrepresenting infringement can make you liable for damages under 17 U.S.C. 512(f). Compare the images side by side first, and when in doubt, leave it.
Should I use a DMCA takedown service or write notices myself?
Write them yourself for a few listings; this guide is enough. A service earns its keep when you're finding copies every week and want the searching, evidence and follow-up done for you. That's what our DMCA takedown service does.
About the author
Alex Wrexford writes about counterfeiting and the people who chase it, and is the author of The Takedown: Inside the Hunt for the World's Counterfeiters. More at alexwrexford.com. So you know: The Takedown is published by Verity Publishing, and this site is run by Verity AI Ltd.
Sources
Rather not search for copies by hand?
We find listings that use your photos, you confirm them, and the notice above is filled in for you with the evidence attached.