Copyright
| Month | Total notices received | Percentage of notices where some or all content was removed | Percentage of notices rejected as incomplete | Percentage of notices rejected as abusive | Counter notices received |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July | 873 | 22% | 66% | 12% | 0 |
| August | 1,113 | 22% | 68% | 10% | 3 |
| September | 373 | 26% | 65% | 9% | 1 |
| October | 446 | 46% | 47% | 7% | 0 |
| November | 391 | 24% | 66% | 10% | 0 |
| December | 223 | 15% | 71% | 14% | 0 |
| Total | 3,419 | 25% | 64% | 10% | 4 |
Notes
- The table above indicates the number of copyright infringement takedown notices we received during each month of the reporting period. Each notice may cover more than one site and/or piece of content. Some notices identify dozens of allegedly infringing materials. In the future, we’ll aim to provide more specific data on the number of sites affected and items removed, as those numbers are substantially greater and more accurately represent the impact of DMCA notices than the number of individual notices received.
- The “percentage of notices where some or all content was removed” includes those notices which were formally complete, but the site was suspended for a separate violation of the WordPress.com Terms of Service and/or User Guidelines. (Spam or “warez” sites, for example.) If we counted these as rejected notices, the “percentage of notices where some or all content was removed” would be much lower.
- Before taking action, we carefully review each notice to ensure it’s formally complete, and includes all information required by the DMCA. Notices that don’t meet the requirements of the statute are included in “notices rejected as incomplete.”
- We also may decline to remove content if a notice is abusive. “Abusive” notices may be formally complete, but are directed at fair use of content, material that isn’t copyrightable, or content for which the complaining party misrepresents ownership of a copyright. You can see some examples of notices we’ve rejected on grounds of abuse in our Hall of Shame.
- Whenever we remove content from a site in response to a DMCA takedown notice we email the site owner and provide a copy of the original complaint. We also forward takedown notices to site owners when we push back on complaints on fair use grounds or because the takedown notice is fraudulent.
- Under the DMCA, a user can formally challenge a notice of copyright infringement by submitting a counter notice. When we receive a valid counter notice, we forward a copy to the individual who submitted the original DMCA notice, then restore access to the content if no further action is taken. During this reporting period, only 0.46% of the valid DMCA notices we received were later subject to a counter notice.
Top Complainants (Jul – Dec 2022)
| Reporting Organizations | Number of Notices |
|---|---|
| Reforma | 164 |
| DMCA Force | 146 |
| IFPI | 80 |
| DMCA Pro | 70 |
| Group-IB | 58 |
| MarkScan | 57 |
| ABDR | 52 |
| RightsHero | 37 |
| Bytescare | 37 |
| WebCapio | 33 |
Notes
- The numbers above represent the total notices submitted by different organizations over the relevant period. These are grouped by the originating e-mail address. While we do our best to group complainants together, the total number of notices submitted per copyright holder may be greater than shown above if multiple e-mail addresses were used for the submissions. Notices received may be sent on behalf of a number of different copyright holders utilizing a shared third party agent, and relate to a number of different websites.
- We receive duplicate notices from multiple “Top Complainants” targeting previously assessed or removed content. The duplicate notices have been counted towards the total of incomplete notices.
Trademark
| Month | Number of notices received | Number of notices where some or all content was removed | Percentage of requests where some or all content was removed |
|---|---|---|---|
| July | 175 | 3 | 2% |
| August | 169 | 3 | 2% |
| September | 145 | 10 | 7% |
| October | 87 | 4 | 5% |
| November | 81 | 5 | 6% |
| December | 99 | 5 | 5% |
| Total | 756 | 30 | 4% |
Notes
- Unlike the DMCA for copyright infringement, there is no statutory prescribed process for notices (or takedown demands) of alleged trademark infringement. Also, there is no statutory safe harbor for hosting alleged trademark infringement.
- For each report of trademark infringement, we evaluate if the trademark is used in an infringing manner.
- Referencing a company, brand, product, or service in a post — on a WordPress.com site — does not constitute infringement. Anyone can mention a trademark if it’s necessary to identify a company, brand, or product for the purpose of criticism or commentary.
- Most of the infringement allegations we see are from trademark owners attempting to censor a user’s comments or criticisms of their brands or companies. We reject these complaints and forward them to users so that they can make a fully informed decision.
- “Percentage of requests where some or all content was removed” does not include cases where content was removed for violating our Terms of Service. For example, after viewing the site, we may remove it for reasons relating to spam (regardless of the validity of the trademark claim).
- Unique complainants are grouped by their e-mail address, so the total number of notices submitted per unique trademark might be different.
Transparency Report 