Copyright policy

1. Our Commitment

Upkyo, the trade name of a Limited Liability Company organized under the laws of the State of New Mexico, USA, company number 6867626, respects intellectual property and expects its customers to do the same. Our Terms of Service and Acceptable Use Policy prohibit hosting, storing or distributing through our services any content that infringes someone else's copyright.

As an online service provider, Upkyo follows the notice and takedown process of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, codified at 17 U.S.C. § 512 and referred to below as the DMCA.

2. Scope

This policy applies to content stored on Upkyo services: web and WordPress hosting, cloud, VPS and dedicated servers, professional email, cloud backup, and websites built by Upkyo.

If a domain name is registered through Upkyo but the website is hosted elsewhere, Upkyo has no access to the content and cannot remove it. Please contact the website's hosting provider, which you can identify from the server's IP address. We may, however, forward your notice to the domain's registrant.

For customers who manage their own servers, Upkyo does not touch the content. We forward the notice to the customer and, if the content is not removed, we may suspend all or part of the service.

3. Designated Agent

Copyright infringement notices and counter-notices must be sent to Upkyo's designated agent by email at support@upkyo.com, with “DMCA Notice” or “DMCA Counter-Notice” in the subject line, or by mail to: Upkyo, Attn: DMCA Agent, 1178 Broadway, 3rd Floor #1249, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Email is the fastest option. Other requests sent to this address with that subject line will not receive priority handling.

4. Elements of a Valid Notice

To be valid under 17 U.S.C. § 512, subsection c, paragraph 3, your notice must be in writing and include all of the following.

It must bear the physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or of a person authorized to act on the owner's behalf. A full typed name at the end of an email counts as an electronic signature.

It must identify the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed or, if a single notice covers multiple works on one site, provide a representative list of those works.

It must identify the material claimed to be infringing that you want removed or disabled, with information reasonably sufficient for us to locate it, ideally the exact URL of each item.

It must include information reasonably sufficient for us to contact you, such as your name, mailing address, telephone number and email address.

It must include 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.

Finally, it must include a statement that the information in the notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you are the owner or are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

5. Before You Send a Notice

Before sending a notice, confirm that you own the rights or are authorized by the owner, and consider whether the use you are challenging could be permitted by law, including as fair use. U.S. courts require that you consider fair use before sending a takedown notice.

If you are unsure whether content infringes your rights, consult an attorney. Upkyo does not provide legal advice.

6. Incomplete Notices

A notice that does not contain every required element does not trigger the takedown process. If it at least identifies the work, the allegedly infringing material and your contact details, we may reach out to you to complete it. We may also, at our sole discretion, review the report under our Terms of Service and Acceptable Use Policy.

7. How We Handle a Notice

When we receive a valid notice, we act expeditiously to remove or disable access to the reported material, or we ask the customer to do so within a reasonable time. If the customer does not act, or if circumstances warrant it, we may disable the material or the entire site, or suspend the affected service.

We may remove more than the specific material identified when that is technically necessary, for example when the material cannot be isolated from the rest of a site. Upkyo does not rule on the validity of the rights asserted, and a takedown is not an admission that infringement occurred.

We keep a copy of every notice we receive and may share it with the affected customer, with organizations that track takedown requests, or with authorities. Your contact details are included in the copy sent to the customer, because the law allows the customer to respond.

8. Notice to the Customer

When we remove or disable material in response to a notice, we take reasonable steps to promptly notify the affected customer by email at the account address or in the client area. We provide a copy of the notice and explain that the customer may submit a counter-notice if they believe the material was removed as a result of mistake or misidentification.

9. Counter-Notice

If you are an Upkyo customer and you believe in good faith that material was removed or disabled by mistake or because of misidentification, you may send a counter-notice to our designated agent by email at support@upkyo.com or by mail to the address above.

Only send a counter-notice if you are confident you have the right to use the material. A false counter-notice can expose you to liability. If in doubt, consult an attorney.

10. Elements of a Valid Counter-Notice

To be valid under 17 U.S.C. § 512, subsection g, paragraph 3, your counter-notice must be in writing and include all of the following.

It must bear your physical or electronic signature.

It must identify the material that was removed or disabled and the location where it appeared before it was removed or disabled.

It must include 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.

It must include 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, for any judicial district in which Upkyo may be found, and that you will accept service of process from the person who submitted the original notice or that person's agent.

11. Restoring Material

When we receive a valid counter-notice, we promptly send a copy to the person who submitted the original notice and inform them that we will replace the material or restore access to it within the time frame set by 17 U.S.C. § 512, subsection g.

We restore the material within that statutory time frame unless our designated agent first receives notice from the original complainant that they have filed an action seeking a court order to restrain the customer from engaging in infringing activity on our services. In that case, the material stays disabled until the proceeding ends or the parties reach an agreement.

Restoring material may require action from the customer, for example if the customer deleted the material or if the service was suspended for other reasons.

12. Repeat Infringers

In accordance with 17 U.S.C. § 512, subsection i, Upkyo has adopted and implements a policy of terminating, in appropriate circumstances, the accounts of customers who are repeat infringers.

We consider the number of valid notices that went uncontested or were upheld, how often they occur, how serious the conduct is and how the customer responds. We may terminate an account after a single clear and willful violation. We may also refuse any new order from a person whose account was terminated on this basis. Termination does not entitle the customer to a refund.

13. Abusive Notices and Section 512 f Liability

Under 17 U.S.C. § 512, subsection f, any person who knowingly materially misrepresents that material is infringing, or that material was removed by mistake, is liable for the resulting damages, including costs and attorneys' fees incurred by the alleged copyright owner, the customer or Upkyo.

We may disregard notices that are plainly abusive, repetitive or sent for anticompetitive purposes, censorship or harassment, and we may stop processing notices from a sender who has abused the process. An abusive notice may also expose the sender to claims under other laws.

14. No General Duty to Monitor

Upkyo does not control and is not required to monitor the content its customers store or distribute. This absence of a general duty to monitor is provided for by 17 U.S.C. § 512, subsection m, and, for services provided in the European Union, by the Digital Services Act. Handling a notice does not mean we have knowledge of any other unlawful content.

15. Notices from Outside the United States and EU Law

If you are located outside the United States, you may use the DMCA process described above or report illegal content to us under the law of your country.

For content hosted in or accessible from the European Union, we handle reports in accordance with Regulation 2022/2065, the Digital Services Act. A report must then include a sufficiently substantiated explanation of why you believe the content is illegal; the exact URL of the content or any information that allows us to locate it; your name and email address, except for certain serious offenses where the law allows you to omit them; and a statement confirming your good faith belief that the information and allegations in the report are accurate and complete.

We acknowledge receipt of the report, review it in a diligent, objective and non-arbitrary manner, and inform you of our decision and the available means of redress. When we remove or restrict content, we provide the affected customer with a statement of reasons, as that regulation requires. The customer may challenge the decision by writing to support@upkyo.com and keeps every remedy available under the law.

16. Trademarks and Other Rights

The DMCA applies only to copyright. Claims involving trademarks, domain names, counterfeit goods, defamation, privacy, likeness or other rights are handled under our Abuse Policy. Disputes over a domain name are also subject to the UDRP, URS or registry procedures described in our Domain Registration Agreement.

17. Limitation of Liability

Upkyo acts as a technical intermediary. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Upkyo is not liable to any customer or third party for the consequences of any removal, disabling, restoration or suspension carried out in good faith under this policy. The liability caps and exclusions in our Terms of Service apply.

18. Changes and Language

We may update this policy at any time, in particular to reflect changes in the law. The version in effect is the one published on upkyo.com. Customers are notified of material changes by email or in their client area. This policy is published in several languages, and the English version controls if there is any inconsistency.