Copyright and DMCA

1. What this policy covers

Umbra responds to notices of alleged copyright infringement under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 512. This policy applies to material on umbramodels.com and to material stored on systems we operate, including files uploaded through our forms and Content in the Portal. It is part of the Agreement defined in our terms of service, and words that start with a capital letter here carry the meaning given there.

We act on a valid notice whether or not the safe harbour in 17 U.S.C. § 512 turns out to apply to the particular system the material sits on. We would rather remove infringing material than argue about our own status.

If the material you are concerned about lives on OnlyFans, Instagram, X, Reddit, or another platform, that platform has its own designated agent and its own process. We can often help a creator we represent pursue it, but we cannot remove material from a service we do not operate.

2. Where to send a copyright notice

Send all copyright notices and counter-notices to:

The Site is a public information and enquiry page. It does not host a public library of user-uploaded work, so there is normally nothing here to take down. If you believe something on umbramodels.com infringes your copyright, the address above is the fastest route and we will act on a valid notice.

3. Sending a takedown notice

To be effective under 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3), your written notice must include all six of the following. A notice missing any of them may not trigger our obligation to act, and we will usually write back asking you to complete it.

1. A physical or electronic signature of a person authorised to act on behalf of the owner of the exclusive right that is allegedly infringed. Typing your full name at the end of an email is enough for an electronic signature.
2. Identification of the copyrighted work you say has been infringed. If several works at one online site are covered by a single notice, a representative list of them is sufficient.
3. Identification of the material you say is infringing and that you want removed or disabled, with information reasonably sufficient for us to locate it. A direct URL is the fastest way.
4. Information reasonably sufficient for us to contact you: your address, telephone number, and, if available, an email address.
5. A statement that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorised by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
6. A statement that the information in the notice is accurate, and, under penalty of perjury, that you are authorised to act on behalf of the owner of the exclusive right allegedly infringed.

4. What we do when we receive one

We review complete notices promptly. Where the notice is valid we remove or disable access to the material expeditiously, make a reasonable effort to notify the person who provided it, and pass on a copy of the notice including your contact details, because the DMCA requires us to tell them who complained. If you would rather your details were not forwarded, do not send a notice under this policy and speak to a lawyer about your options first.

Before acting we consider whether the use is obviously lawful, for example a clear fair use, as 17 U.S.C. § 512(f) and the case law on good faith belief require a sender to do. We may ask you a question rather than remove something we think is plainly non-infringing.

5. Sending a counter-notice

If your material was removed and you believe that was a mistake or a misidentification, you may send us a counter-notice under 17 U.S.C. § 512(g)(3). It must include all of the following.

1. Your physical or electronic signature.
2. Identification of the material that was removed and the location at which it appeared before it was removed or disabled.
3. A statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good faith belief the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification.
4. Your name, address, and telephone number, a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court for the judicial district in which your address is located, or if your address is outside the United States, for any judicial district in which we may be found, and a statement that you will accept service of process from the person who sent the original notice or from their agent.

We forward a valid counter-notice to the original complainant. If they do not tell us within 10 business days that they have filed a court action seeking to restrain the activity, we may restore the material in 10 to 14 business days after receiving the counter-notice.

6. Repeat infringer policy

We terminate, in appropriate circumstances, the accounts and engagements of anyone who repeatedly infringes copyright. In practice we record every valid notice against an account. A first valid notice results in removal and a written warning. A second results in suspension pending an explanation. A third ends the account and, for Talent we represent, is grounds for immediate termination of the Management Agreement. We may act sooner where the infringement is obviously deliberate or commercial in scale. Counter-notices that stand unchallenged do not count against an account.

7. False claims carry penalties

Under 17 U.S.C. § 512(f), anyone who knowingly materially misrepresents that material is infringing, or that it was removed by mistake, is liable for damages, including costs and legal fees, incurred by the alleged infringer, the copyright owner, or us. Do not use this process to silence a competitor or to remove material you simply dislike. Consider talking to a lawyer before you send either kind of notice.

8. If your work was stolen from you

Leaked and reposted material is a real problem for creators, and most of it sits on platforms we do not run. If you are one of our clients, tell your manager and we will help you work through each platform’s process. If you are not a client, you can still email team@umbramodels.com if you believe the material is on a system we operate, and we will act on it.

9. Reports that are not about copyright

Copyright is not the right tool for every problem, and a takedown notice is the slowest way to reach us about the worst ones.

If the material involves a minor, trafficking or coercion, or an intimate image of someone who did not consent to it, do not file it as a copyright claim. Email team@umbramodels.com and say what it is. Those reports are read first and handled under Section 11 of our terms of service, which sets out what we remove, what we report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and to law enforcement, and how fast we terminate. You do not need to own the copyright in the material to report it, and you do not need to be a client.