Copyright and takedown
How to send a copyright complaint, what happens next, and how to counter-notice.
Last revised January 2026.
What this covers
Members post their own words. Occasionally somebody pastes in material they do not own — a paper, a figure, a document. If that is yours and you want it removed, this is the route.
What to send
Identify the work; give the exact URL of the post or document containing it; state that you own the rights or are authorised to act; state that you believe the use is unauthorised; give a means of contacting you; and sign it. Incomplete notices cannot be acted on, and vague ones asking for "all references to" something will be declined.
How to send it
Post in meta or message any staff member through the site. Notices are handled by the staff team; there is no separate legal department, because there are no employees.
What happens
A valid notice gets the material removed or redacted, normally within a few days, and the action appears in the public log noting that a copyright complaint was received and acted on. The surrounding discussion stays — members' own commentary is theirs, and removing it would not serve you.
Counter-notice
If your post was removed and you believe wrongly, say so in meta. Explain why the use was permitted — fair use, fair dealing, licence, your own authorship. Reinstatement decisions are made in public and logged.
Repeat infringement
Accounts that repeatedly post infringing material are silenced and then removed. In practice this has always concerned wholesale pasting rather than quotation.
What this is not for
Copyright is not a route to removing criticism. Suppliers occasionally send notices about vendor pages on the theory that a product description or logo appears somewhere. Where that is genuinely true the material is removed; the assessment stays. Member reviews are members' own words about their own experience and are not anybody else's property.
meta category — it is read, and it is the fastest route.