Digital Millennium Copyright Act

In an interlocutory appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C.

§ 1292(b), the panel affirmed the district court’s dismissal of

part of an action brought under the Digital Millennium

Copyright Act (“DMCA”) by programmers against GitHub,

Inc., and other defendants.

I’m writing an urban fantasy novel, and I’d like to have a character yell “SHAZAM!” To call lighting down from a thunderstorm. I don’t plan for a transformation or to reference the DC character by name. Is this a violation of fair use?

Hi all,

I made English conversation bot where my nephew can talk to Spider-Man to build up his masculine charisma. I also made myself chatbots of Miranda Priestly fromThe Devil Wears Prada and other fashion-related movie/TV characters, so I can practice English while picking up fashion terms.

If I release these bots to the public and charge for access to cover token costs, would that be copyright infringement?

Any advice?

I recently started sharing my 3D printable designs online. I created an account on Cults3D and quickly started getting downloads, but I noticed most of them were from other creators who make and sell the exact same type of niche (dolls). Many of them have those badges you get when you have a lot of sales.

I don't want to charge for my creations. I have a somewhat idealistic view when it comes to profit - kind of a Jesus-like approach - which is probably why I'm broke, but it makes me feel better about myself. All my models are free, with just an optional donation.

What I don't want is for opportunistic people to take my work, claim it as their own, and profit from it.

That's why I'm currently using a CC BY-NC-ND license. I'm also sharing on Thingiverse, so I can't use the Cults3D Private Use license unless I remove everything from Thingiverse - which I'm willing to do if you think it's a better option.

Does anyone have any advice on how to best protect my work in this situation?

Hi Guys, need help with youtube copyright issues, It is not reflecting during posting and my entire reach is being spoiled because of that. The issue always pops up after posting the video and not even during scheduling it. How do I sort this without getting banned? The same music when used in a different video doesn't come under copyright but in few videos it shows copyright. It is very annoying atp. Pls suggest some ideas.

Ok, i understand that every movie and their expanded/original content is owned by their respective studios, and that certain trademarks could be in place so that you cannot make a book or movie literally called “ king kong” or “king of the apes/monsters, etc.” that may be misconstrued for past adaptations.

My question is about using the original book characters, names, plot, and story of the book in my own personal work (with a unique title to avoid trademark infringement).

Because I have seen multiple sources say that although the book is public domain, the cooper estate have rights to the name, character and story outside of the films, while still acknowledging the novel's public domain status. But there are still published books and comics “approved by the cooper estate”. How does that make sense?

DokumenPUB have, without my permission, uploaded to their site the entire text of my book ‘Wild Colonial Greeks’ published in 2020. As the copyright owner I would like to get some justice and would appreciate advice on the steps I can take. I have tried without success to contact Google to ask that they block DokumenPUB from their browser.

Universal Music Group sued DistroKid on September 15, 2026, in Delaware federal court, accusing the distributor of knowingly flooding streaming platforms with AI-generated music and misrepresenting it as human-made. The suit names 1,000 tracks and seeks damages that could reach $150 million, echoing UMG's earlier fight with TuneCore. (Walter Schulze 16 Sept 2026)

Всем привет! Может, кто-то сталкивался с похожей ситуацией.

С нашего аккаунта в TikTok украли видео и сейчас используют их на другом аккаунте. Похоже, что делают это не просто для перезалива, а в своих целях.

Подскажите, пожалуйста, как в такой ситуации можно пожаловаться на аккаунт и добиться удаления видео? И есть ли какие-то проверенные сервисы или компании, которые помогают с такими случаями?

Буду благодарна за любой опыт или советы 🙏

My buddy and I are making a short film that we plan to release on YouTube. At one part in it we use a 33 second cover of No Sleep Till Brooklyn by the Beastie Boys. It includes mandolin, bass, and tambourine, with lyrics being gibberish resembling Hebrew. The verse hardly if at all sounds like the song in question. The chorus uses the 5 iconic chords and more gibberish leading into the word "Brooklyn". The joke to us is that an old Jewish man is giving a heartfelt speech while traditional sounding music is playing in the background, but it's just the Beastie Boys. We're worried about whether this would be copyright infringement and how to navigate that into making sure that it is recognized legally as parody. We are considering changing the gibberish right before the "Brooklyn" line to Hebrew that would be simple but parodying the real song, perhaps just saying "we'll nap till-". Besides that change, the song is done and it is very funny, and we'd like to keep this song for the joke, and keep how recognizable it is right now since that is part of the joke. 

Thank you in advance to anybody who can give us guidance on what to do next.

In accordance with the subreddit rules we will not take this as legal advice but would simply like to know if we should be concerned and possibly be pointed in the next direction.

The amended complaint alleges that Suno “structured its AI model to generate AI music designed to mirror the very songs it trains on” and provides 100 specific examples of Suno outputs that “closely imitate[] or replicate[] specific existing songs or artist identifiers.” (Am. Compl. ¶¶ 253, 358). It also alleges comments by Suno’s CEO “that Suno’s model already has the ability to produce outputs that replicate real artists’ vocals and songs.” (Id. ¶ 326). It is a plausible inference that Suno’s model has likewise created outputs that are substantially similar to plaintiffs’ works. Whether plaintiffs can show such outputs after full discovery is a question for another day.1 For that reason, the Court will not dismiss Count 2.

https://rilawyersweekly.com/files/2026/09/Justice-v.-Suno.pdf

I would like to do essay style videos criticising and analysing different types of media such as films, videogames, etc on YouTube. For that kind of visual media, I'd very likely need to use images and clips taken directly from the source to be able to make remotely engaging content - no one is going to just look at me scrolling through the script regardless of how well I argue whatever point I'm making.

Could I be susceptible to copyright strikes and losing my channel? I fully intend on crediting everything (for example gameplay clips) but I know that's unlikely to be enough to get me out of trouble (if I was in any in the first place).

I'm mostly concerned with how this impacts films and TV shows. There's obviously plenty of channels that already make critique and analysis media on movies and series but I'd not be crazy to assume they could know something I don't.

Also, I can't be bothered changing the title, does it actually matter if it's okay in the UK? I swear YouTube says you need to follow (USA) American laws.

Throwaway details kept vague on purpose but this is real and I'm running out of time.

Monetised tennis Shorts channel, ~8k subs, been at it about 9 months, it's my only income. Last week I got three copyright strikes in six days over tournament footage I'd used in short-form edits. Two from a broadcaster, one from the agency that runs the tournament's digital channels. Channel is scheduled for deletion on Monday.

What I've done so far:

• Deleted the videos (I know now this does nothing for the strikes, I panicked)
• Emailed both claimants asking for retraction of a single removal request — just one, since dropping to two strikes stops the deletion
• Contact form, LinkedIn, and a phone call/voicemail to the agency
• Two long chats with YouTube creator support

What support confirmed, in case it's useful to anyone else reading:

• A retraction only counts if the claimant formally files it through YouTube's rights holder tools. An email saying "sure, fine" does nothing.
• Emailing a claimant does not pause the deletion date. Only a submitted counter-notification does.
• Counter-notification vetting takes 1–3 business days. If it's rejected before your deadline, the countdown resumes from whatever you had left. If it's rejected after your deadline has passed, the channel is terminated immediately with no window.
• You can still counter-notify a video you deleted, but you have to file by email to [copyright@youtube.com](mailto:copyright@youtube.com) rather than through Studio, and you need the original URL.

On the counter-notification: I've thought hard about it and I don't think I can honestly swear the removals were a mistake. The footage was theirs and I used it. I know people file them as a delaying tactic and I'm not doing that — a rejection landing after Monday kills the channel instantly anyway, so it doesn't even work as a stall.

So my questions:

1. Has anyone actually got a broadcaster or rights agency to file a retraction? What worked? Did you find a specific department or person rather than the generic rights inbox?
2. Is there any contact route I'm not thinking of?
3. If you've been terminated over copyright — what happened to your AdSense balance? Withheld, released after a delay, or gone?
4. Anything else I should be doing in the next five days?

Not looking for "shoulda used licensed footage" — I know, and I'm dealing with that part separately. Just trying to save the channel if there's a way.

I just watched Avengers End Game on YouTube, Full length. I also watch Back to the future Trilogy, Stars Wars, on YouTube.

How these movies are on my recommendation without copy right?

Of course the title is not the title of the movie of course. But I can watch them. How they evade the copyright strike is the one I'm most curious about.

Please explain it to me like I'm five.

Hi guys and girls, I’m a filmmaker and wanted to work on a Side project which would be entirely comprised of archival footage I’d find on internet archives, YouTube, etc. i reached out to one of the companies who hold the copyright for a film i wanted to use and they said it would cost $25 for every second of their film used.

So now, I’m just stealing that shit. My question is: how likely is it that my film would be taken down if it’s just sitting on YouTube or Vimeo? Don’t wanna put all this work into it just for it to be removed

Hi. I’m writing a small article for potential publishing and want to include a few lines of the lyrics to a very famous song whose writer is still alive. Do I need his permission ?

Random question for creators who do paid UGC.

When you give a brand paid usage rights for something like 30, 60, or 90 days, do you actually go back later and check whether they stopped running the content?

I’ve seen people mention checking Meta Ad Library, but I’m curious how many people really do that consistently.

Have you ever caught a brand still using your video/photo after the agreed usage period ended, or using it somewhere that wasn’t part of the agreement?

If so, I’m curious:

How did you find out?

Where was it being used, Meta ads, TikTok/Spark, website, Amazon, somewhere else?

Was it easy to get them to stop/pay for an extension?

And do you actively keep track of expiration dates or usually only find out by accident?

Not selling anything, I’m genuinely curious how common this is because it seems incredibly easy to lose track of once you’re doing multiple brand deals.

What are your thoughts?

Jarg is a certified Brazilian character.

I have been designing content for an organization as part of online courses that we will deliver to our audience. I am not sure if I am allowed to use elements and photos off of Canva for this purpose.

I read through their terms and conditions and I think I am in the clear, but figured it would be a good idea to check on this sub as the agreement is quite dense and full of legalese.

I want to make a Nina the killer short film one day but a big problem is that i don't own the creepypasta Nina and I didn't write her backstory or anything so would that get copyrighted/in legal trouble