DMCA & Copyright Policy

GrandPeoples.com respects the intellectual property rights of creators and expects everyone who contributes to our site to do the same. This policy explains how we respond to claims of copyright infringement under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), 17 U.S.C. § 512, and how you may use the content we publish.

Our respect for copyright

The GrandPeoples Editorial Team writes original guides and links to the sources we rely on. We use images, screenshots and quotations only when we own them, have a license or permission to use them, or believe the use is otherwise permitted by law, such as a short quotation used for commentary or reporting.

Mistakes can still happen. If you believe material on GrandPeoples.com infringes a copyright you own or are authorized to enforce, please tell us. We take every good-faith report seriously and review it promptly.

How to file a DMCA takedown notice

To be effective under the DMCA, a takedown notice must be in writing and include the following elements, as set out in 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3):

1. Your signature. A physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or of a person authorized to act on the owner’s behalf. A typed full legal name at the end of an email is generally accepted as an electronic signature.
2. Identification of the copyrighted work. A description of the work you claim has been infringed. If a single notice covers multiple works, a representative list of those works.
3. Identification of the infringing material. A description of the material you claim is infringing and information reasonably sufficient for us to locate it, ideally the full URL of each page and a note of where on the page the material appears.
4. Your contact information. Information reasonably sufficient for us to contact you, such as your name, postal address, telephone number and email address.
5. A good-faith statement. A statement that you have a good-faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent or the law.
6. An accuracy statement under penalty of perjury. A statement that the information in the notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you are the copyright owner or are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Notices that do not include the required elements may not be treated as valid under the DMCA, and we may ask you for the missing information before we act. For background on the law and the notice-and-takedown system, see the U.S. Copyright Office’s DMCA page.

What happens after we receive a notice

When we receive a notice that substantially complies with the requirements above, we will:

• review the notice and the material it identifies;
• remove or disable access to the material where appropriate;
• make a reasonable effort to notify the person who provided the material, if it was supplied by someone outside our team, and share a copy of the notice with them; and
• reply to you to confirm the action we have taken.

If we believe the use is lawful, for example because it is a licensed image or a short quotation used for commentary, we will explain our reasoning when we reply.

Counter-notification process

If material you provided was removed or disabled because of a DMCA notice and you believe this happened because of a mistake or misidentification, you may send us a counter-notification. Under 17 U.S.C. § 512(g)(3), it must include:

1. Your signature. Your physical or electronic signature.
2. Identification of the removed material. A description of the material that was removed or to which access was disabled, and the location (URL) where it appeared before it was removed.
3. A statement under penalty of perjury. A statement, under penalty of perjury, that you have a good-faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material.
4. Your contact details and consent to jurisdiction. Your name, address and telephone number, and a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the federal district court for the judicial district in which your address is located (or, if your address is outside the United States, any judicial district in which we may be found), and that you will accept service of process from the person who submitted the original notice or that person’s agent.

Send your counter-notification to hello@grandspeoples.com with the subject line “DMCA Counter-Notice”.

When we receive a valid counter-notification, we will forward a copy to the person who submitted the original notice and let them know that we may restore the material. As provided in 17 U.S.C. § 512(g)(2), we may restore the material no sooner than 10 and no later than 14 business days after we receive the counter-notification, unless the original complainant first tells us that they have filed a court action seeking to restrain the alleged infringement. You can learn more in the U.S. Copyright Office’s Section 512 resources.

Repeat infringers

GrandPeoples.com does not offer public user accounts. However, when we publish work supplied by outside contributors, we will, in appropriate circumstances, stop accepting and publishing work from anyone who is the subject of repeated valid infringement notices, and we may remove their previously published contributions.

Misrepresentation warning

Please make sure your claim is accurate before you send a notice or counter-notification. Under 17 U.S.C. § 512(f), any person who knowingly and materially misrepresents that material is infringing, or that material was removed or disabled by mistake or misidentification, may be liable for damages, including costs and attorneys’ fees.

Before filing a notice, consider whether the use might be permitted by law, for example as fair use. If you are unsure whether material infringes your rights, we recommend speaking with a qualified attorney. This page is provided for general information and is not legal advice.

Our own content and reuse

Unless otherwise noted, the articles, text, graphics and other original content on GrandPeoples.com are owned by or licensed to GrandPeoples.com and are protected by copyright. Some images are used under license from third parties, and we cannot grant permission to reuse them.

What you are welcome to do

• Quote a short excerpt from one of our articles, provided you credit GrandPeoples.com and include a link back to the original article.
• Link to any page on our site, and share our articles on social media using their titles and URLs.

What requires our written permission

• Republishing an article in full or in substantial part, on a website, in a newsletter or in print.
• Copying our images, graphics or page designs.
• Presenting our content in a way that suggests we endorse you, your product or your service.

To request permission, email hello@grandspeoples.com and tell us what you would like to use and where. Your use of the site is also governed by our Terms of Service.

Contact us

For DMCA notices and counter-notifications, email hello@grandspeoples.com using the subject lines described above. For other questions about copyright, permissions or this policy, you can also reach the GrandPeoples Editorial Team through our contact page. You may also want to read our Editorial Policy and Privacy Policy.