DMCA policy

1What GayStash is, for safe-harbour purposes

GayStash stores no copyrighted works. It is an information location tool, a directory of links to material hosted elsewhere, and it operates under 17 U.S.C. §512(d) rather than §512(c).

This matters to you as a rights holder: removing our link does not remove the file. The copy stays online at the host until the host removes it. We will always take the link down on a valid notice, and we will always tell you which host to contact next, but a notice to us alone will not get the work off the internet.

In short: we de-index. Send us a notice and also send one to the host, which is named on every record.

2Where to send one

Send notices to the address below. Notices sent anywhere else may not reach the right person.

In short: send notices to that address.

3Sending a takedown notice

The takedown form collects everything §512(c)(3)(A) requires and is the fastest route. A notice by email must contain the same six things:

1. A physical or electronic signature of the owner or someone authorised to act for them.
2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to be infringed.
3. The specific GayStash URL of each record complained of. "Your whole site" is not identification and we cannot act on it.
4. Your contact details: address, telephone, email.
5. A statement that you have a good-faith belief the use is not authorised by the owner, its agent, or the law.
6. A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information is accurate and that you are the owner or authorised to act for them.

In short: six elements, and one URL per record. Use the form.

4What we do when one arrives

• Valid notices are actioned as quickly as we can: the record is de-indexed and stops resolving.
• The person who submitted it is told, given a copy of the notice without your postal address or telephone number, and told how to counter-notice.
• You get confirmation with the host's details so you can pursue the copy itself.

In short: link down, submitter told, host named.

5Counter-notice

If your record was removed and you believe that was a mistake or a misidentification, you may file a counter-notice under §512(g)(3). It must include your signature, identification of the removed material and where it appeared, a statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good-faith belief it was removed by mistake, and your consent to the jurisdiction of the federal court for your district.

We forward it to the complainant. If they do not file a court action within 10 to 14 business days, we restore the record.

In short: you can contest a removal, and we restore it if nobody sues within 10–14 business days.

6Repeat infringers

Safe harbour requires a repeat-infringer policy that is real and applied. Ours: an account that repeatedly draws upheld notices is terminated, upheld meaning not withdrawn and not successfully counter-noticed. Wholesale re-submission of previously removed links terminates immediately.

Termination removes the account. Records it contributed are de-indexed where the notice covered them.

In short: repeated upheld notices and the account goes.

7Filing a false notice

Under 17 U.S.C. §512(f), anyone who knowingly and materially misrepresents that material is infringing is liable for damages, including costs and legal fees, incurred by the person whose material was removed and by us.

Performers frequently receive fraudulent notices aimed at unmasking them. We do not disclose a submitter's identity, email or IP address on the strength of a notice alone. That requires a subpoena or court order.

In short: false notices carry liability, and a notice alone never gets you someone's identity.