Legal Question in Intellectual Property in New York

Re: DMCA and Unregistered Work

You can file a takedown notice without having a registered copyright. However, if the recipient issues a restore notice the ISP will restore the allegedly infringed material and may maintain it there unless and until you go to court. You can't go to court on a copyright infringement unless you are registered. When you register in relation to when an infringement occurs is important because if the infringement occurs prior to the registration, you will not be eligible for statutory damages and attorneys fees, both of which can be considerable. As to exposing websites that steal you can write whatever you wish but if the statements are defamatory and untrue you may subject yourself to a libel suit.

Re: DMCA and Unregistered Work

Copyright registration is a prerequisite to filing a copyright infringement action in the U.S. I don't believe it is required for the purposes of serving DMCA takedown notice; however, it is a good idea to register works comprising one's website for a number of reasons. If a DMCA counter notice is filed, the complainant has 14 days to file a lawsuit or the ISP will restore the materials on the website it hosts. This is when you would have to have all relevant works registered, and it can be quite difficult and expensive to accomplish registration on a timely basis. Keep in mind that there is liability for improper use of DMCA and obtain legal advice before filing any DMCA takedown notices.

"Exposing" websites for allegedly unlawful activities is a risky venture (even if you do not explicitly identify their owners/operators) and may result in defamation and other legal actions against you. Have a copyright attorney clear any content you intend to post on your website that portrays other sites negatively.

The above reply is in the nature of general information, is not legal advice and should not be relied on as such.

Re: DMCA and Unregistered Work

The only thing I'll add is that, depending on the facts (registrars involved, hosting companies involved, content of article copied, use made by person that copied your article, etc.) A DMCA may not be the fastest or surest way to deal with this. Having an attorney send your messages/notices does get more attention to your problem and shouldn't be cost prohibitive.