Copyright Notices and Takedowns

This article explains Stanza's copyright process step by step — for someone who believes their work has been copied, and for a poet whose work has been reported. It describes how the process works on Stanza; it is not legal advice. If you are unsure of your rights, speak to a lawyer.

If you think your work has been copied

Filing a notice

Anyone can file a notice — you do not need a Stanza account. Use the File a copyright notice form, linked from our Copyright policy. You will be asked for:

• What kind of material it is — for example the text of a poem, a recorded reading, a background or cover image, background music, a podcast episode, a live performance, or a profile image.
• A link to it. We cannot act on a notice that does not identify the material.
• Your work, and how this material infringes it.
• About you — your full name, email and postal address (organisation and phone are optional).
• Two statements required by law, and your electronic signature (your full legal name).

When you submit, we email you a confirmation with a reference number. Keep it if you write to us again.

What happens next

A member of our staff reviews every notice. If it is valid, we disable access to the material and email you. If it is not, we tell you why. Either way, we forward your notice — your name and the substance of your claim — to the person who posted the material. A notice that contains a demand for payment or a settlement offer is held back for a staff decision rather than forwarded. Your postal address and phone number are never shared with them.

If your work has been reported

You are told about every notice

Every copyright notice about something you posted appears under Copyright notices about your work, whether or not we agree with it, and you are notified on the Safety channel. Each notice shows who filed it, when, and its status:

• Under review — nothing has been removed; a member of staff is reading the claim.
• Upheld — material removed — we agreed with the claim and removed the material. You can answer the notice.
• Rejected — we did not agree with the claim. Nothing was removed.
• Withdrawn — the person who complained retracted it.

Answering a notice (counter-notice)

If your material was removed and you believe that was a mistake, choose Answer this notice. You will identify what was removed, give your contact details, make the statements the law requires and sign.

Restoration

Once your counter-notice has been sent to the person who complained, a waiting period of 10 business days begins, and you will see the date on or after which your material will be restored. If they tell us they have gone to court, the material stays down until that is resolved. Otherwise, it is put back automatically, and the notice shows Reversed — material restored. If you changed a poem's background music since it was removed, we keep your new choice.

Copyright strikes

An upheld copyright notice counts as a copyright strike. Filing a counter-notice withdraws the strike for that notice. Copyright strikes are counted separately from other moderation strikes. If an account gathers five upheld notices within twelve months, it is flagged for review by our team — accounts are never closed automatically.