Free EU copyright notice generator
Fill in the form, and the generator writes a notice in your own name under Article 16 of the EU Digital Services Act, with the four elements the Regulation lists. You copy it, download it or open it in your email, and you send it yourself.
Since 17 February 2024, every hosting service that offers its service to people in the EU must let anyone report illegal content, and copyright infringement is illegal content. This applies wherever the service is established. A notice with the Article 16 elements is considered to give the service knowledge of the content where a diligent provider can see the illegality without a detailed legal examination (Article 16(3)), and a provider that then does not act expeditiously can lose its protection from liability for it.
The generator also writes a follow-up for a service that has not decided, and an escalation to the hosting provider. Nothing you type is sent to us or stored: the notice is put together in your browser.
Step by step
Collect the links
Copy the exact address of every page or file that shows your work. Article 16 asks for the exact electronic location, so the homepage is not enough.
Find the reporting channel
Look for "Report illegal content", "DSA" or "Notice and action" in the site's footer or legal pages. Large services usually have a form; others give an email address.
Create your notice
Fill in the form below, read the statement in the notice and sign it by typing your name. Paste it into the service's form, or copy, download or email it.
Keep the confirmation
A service must confirm receipt when you give an email address, and tell you its decision and how to challenge it. Keep both. If nothing happens, send the follow-up, then the escalation to the host.
What an Article 16 notice must contain
Article 16(2) of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 lists four elements. The generator puts each one in your notice:
- A sufficiently substantiated explanation of why the content is illegal. For copyright: that it copies your work and uses your exclusive rights of reproduction and communication to the public (Articles 2 and 3 of Directive 2001/29/EC) without permission.
- A clear indication of the exact electronic location of the content: the exact URLs.
- Your name and email address.
- A statement confirming your bona fide belief that the information and allegations in the notice are accurate and complete.
Before you send it
- Make sure you own the copyright, or that the owner has asked you to act for them. If you made the photos or videos yourself, you usually own them, unless you signed the rights away in a contract.
- Check that the use is not allowed by an exception in national law, such as quotation. Copyright exceptions differ between EU countries.
- Be accurate. Under Article 23, an online platform suspends, for a reasonable period and after a warning, the handling of notices from people who frequently send notices that are manifestly unfounded.
Who to send it to
Send it to the service where the copies are, through the reporting channel it must provide under Article 16. Services also have to publish a single point of contact for users (Article 12), usually on a legal or contact page.
When the service does not respond, find who hosts it: a hosting lookup of the domain shows the hosting provider or the network behind it (a WHOIS shows the registrar), and many sites sit behind a CDN such as Cloudflare, which forwards abuse reports to the host. The hosting provider is a hosting service too, so the same rules apply to it. The escalation notice is written for it.
What happens next
The service has to handle your notice in a timely, diligent, non-arbitrary and objective manner, and tell you its decision without undue delay, with the ways to challenge it (Article 16(5) and (6)). If it refuses and you disagree, the decision tells you your options; a lawyer can advise you on going to court.
Some services ignore notices, especially sites that host leaked content on purpose. That is when following up with the host and the search engines matters, and when many creators prefer to have it done for them. See how we send takedowns for you
The notice generator and form field helper need JavaScript. Enable JavaScript to use the tool; you can still read this guide.
Frequently asked questions
Is this EU notice generator free?
Yes. You need no account and pay nothing. You fill in the form, and you send the notice yourself.
Do you see or keep what I type?
No. The notice is put together in your browser and nothing you type is sent to Adult Model Protection or stored. Our analytics record that a notice was created, copied, downloaded or opened in email, and on which page, and the generator is excluded from session replays. The form values are never sent.
Does the site have to be in the EU?
No. The Digital Services Act applies to services offered to people in the EU, wherever the provider is established.
Is this the same as a DMCA notice?
No. The DMCA is US law with its own elements. Many services accept either, but a notice under Article 16 fits a service that offers its service in the EU. Our DMCA page writes the US version.
Can someone else send the notice for me?
Yes. In the form, choose that you act for the owner and give the owner's name.
Do I have to give my postal address?
Article 16 asks for your name and email address. The address and phone fields are optional; fill them in if the service asks for them.