Copyright (DMCA) Policy

1. Overview

Leivar respects the intellectual property of others and asks our users to do the same. We respond to notices of alleged copyright infringement that comply with the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 512) and to equivalent valid notices under the copyright laws of other jurisdictions. If your work has been used on the Service in a way you believe constitutes infringement, follow the process below. We may, in appropriate circumstances and at our discretion, disable or terminate the accounts of users who repeatedly infringe.

2. Designated agent

Send DMCA notices to our designated agent:

Kamugisha Ibrahim c/o Leivar (operated by Kamugisha Ibrahim) Canada (address available on written request via dmca email) Phone: Available on written request via dmca email Email: kamugishaibrah@gmail.com

U.S. Copyright Office directory listing: Not yet registered with the US Copyright Office (operator handles takedowns directly via dmca email).

Status note: statutory safe-harbour under 17 U.S.C. § 512 attaches only once the designated agent above is registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. Until that registration is on file we still receive and act on notices, but the safe harbour may not yet apply. This is tracked as a launch blocker.

3. What a DMCA notice must include (17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3))

For us to act on your notice, it must be a written communication, sent to the designated agent above, that includes substantially the following:

1. A physical or electronic signature of a person authorised to act on behalf of the owner of the exclusive right alleged to be infringed.
2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple works on the Service are covered by a single notice, a representative list of those works.
3. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or disabled, with reasonably sufficient information to permit us to locate it (URL is best).
4. Information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact you, such as an address, telephone number, and email.
5. A statement that you have a good-faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorised by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
6. A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification is accurate and that you are authorised to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Misrepresentations in a DMCA notice may subject you to liability for damages, including costs and attorneys' fees, under 17 U.S.C. § 512(f).

4. What happens after we receive a valid notice

Upon receipt of a notice substantially complying with Section 3 we will remove or disable access to the allegedly infringing material expeditiously. We will take reasonable steps to notify the user who posted the material that the material has been removed or disabled and provide a copy of the notice.

You may submit a notice to the designated agent above, or use the structured form at /legal/report (select "copyright"). When we action a notice we disable access to the identified content and record a repeat-infringer strike against the responsible account; accounts that accumulate strikes are subject to the repeat-infringer policy in Section 6.

5. Counter-notice (17 U.S.C. § 512(g))

If you are a user whose content has been removed and you believe the removal was a mistake or that the material is not infringing, you may send a counter-notice to kamugishaibrah@gmail.com including substantially the following:

1. Your physical or electronic signature.
2. Identification of the material that has been removed and the location at which it appeared before it was removed.
3. A statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good-faith belief that the material was removed as a result of mistake or misidentification.
4. 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 the address is located (or, if your address is outside the United States, for any judicial district in which Leivar may be found) and that you will accept service of process from the person who provided the original notice, or an agent of such person.

On receipt of a valid counter-notice we will forward it to the person who sent the original notice and inform them that we may replace the removed material in not less than 10 and not more than 14 business days unless we receive notice from them that they have filed an action seeking a court order to restrain the activity. Misrepresentations in a counter-notice may subject you to liability under 17 U.S.C. § 512(f).

6. Repeat-infringer policy

We will, in appropriate circumstances and at our discretion, disable or terminate the accounts of users who repeatedly infringe the copyright of others. Repeat-infringer signals include multiple unrelated valid DMCA notices against the same user account, a pattern of removed content that was not counter-noticed, or other evidence of a pattern of infringing activity.

7. Non-US copyright complaints

For copyright complaints under non-US law, including the EU Copyright Directive 2019/790 (in particular Article 17 obligations applicable to certain online content-sharing providers), the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, the Canadian Copyright Modernization Act notice-and-notice regime, and the Australian Copyright Act 1968, write to kamugishaibrah@gmail.com with the same elements listed in Section 3 (signature, identification of work, identification of infringing material, contact information, good-faith statement, and statement of accuracy). We will assess the notice under the law applicable to it and respond appropriately.

8. Trademark complaints

The DMCA does not cover trademark complaints. If you believe a trademark you own is being infringed on the Service, send a written notice to kamugishaibrah@gmail.com including the mark, the registration number and jurisdiction if registered, identification of the allegedly infringing material with a URL, the basis for your claim, your contact information, and a statement made under penalty of perjury that the information is accurate and that you are the owner of the mark or authorised to act on the owner's behalf.

9. AI-generated content and copyright

We note that the U.S. Copyright Office has issued guidance that purely AI-generated content may not be eligible for copyright protection because the work-of-authorship requirement may not be satisfied. The DMCA, however, applies to material in which copyright exists; if you believe content produced or hosted on the Service infringes a work in which you hold copyright, follow the notice procedure above. Whether an Output of the Service is itself copyrightable is addressed in the Terms of Service Section 5.