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Content Protection

Our approach to protecting creator content: respect fans, defend fair use, and be honest about what we can and can’t do.

Our Position on DRM

We do not implement or facilitate digital rights management (DRM) on content delivered through our platform.

Modern DRM restricts legitimate users while being routinely circumvented. It requires intrusive software, breaks when companies shut down servers, and punishes people who actually paid.

What We Do Instead

We give fans clean, unencumbered files. Presigned download URLs are time-limited and tied to authenticated accounts, so casual link-sharing doesn’t work. We don’t restrict playback or limit how fans use files they’ve paid for.

If you need stronger protection than this, we may not be the right platform for your content. We’d rather be honest about that upfront.

Fair Use

We believe in fair use as a fundamental part of how culture works, not a legal technicality to be minimized.

Our Approach

We review copyright claims independently of DMCA pressure:

  • We review claims ourselves. When we receive a takedown request, we evaluate whether the use might be fair use before acting.
  • We give creators time to respond. We don’t immediately remove content; we notify the creator and allow them to make their case.
  • We push back on overreach. Automated takedown systems and overzealous rights holders don’t get automatic compliance.
  • We consider context. Commentary, criticism, education, parody, and transformative works deserve protection.

If someone claims your content infringes their copyright:

  1. We notify you immediately with the full claim details
  2. You have time to respond before we take action
  3. We evaluate the claim against fair use principles
  4. If we believe your use is fair, we’ll deny the takedown
  5. If we’re uncertain, we’ll discuss it with you

If we determine content should be removed:

  1. We explain our reasoning
  2. You can appeal
  3. We won’t remove more than necessary

Limitations

We have no separate legal team. We will push back on overreach, but if a case requires professional counsel, we may need to defer to your own legal representation.

What we can promise: we won’t roll over at the first legal threat, we won’t prioritize our convenience over your rights, and we’ll be transparent about our reasoning.

DMCA Process

We comply with the DMCA’s notice-and-takedown requirements, but we exercise the full discretion the law allows:

For Rights Holders

  • Submit claims to dmca@makenot.work
  • Include all required DMCA elements
  • Be specific about what content infringes and how
  • Expect us to actually review your claim

Automated, bulk, or vague takedown requests will be deprioritized or rejected.

For Creators

  • You’ll be notified of any claim against your content
  • You can submit a counter-notification
  • We’ll restore content if counter-notification requirements are met
  • We’ll fight for you when we believe you’re in the right

Repeat Infringers

We terminate accounts of repeat infringers as required by law. “Repeat infringer” means someone who has had multiple valid claims upheld after review, not someone who has received multiple frivolous claims.

Known Limitations

Free content CDN URLs do not expire. When a CDN is configured, download URLs for free items are static and permanent. Someone with the URL can download without visiting the platform, bypassing download count tracking. This does not affect paid content (which always uses time-limited, authenticated URLs). We consider this acceptable because free content is already publicly accessible to anyone; the URL just skips the middleman. Adding signed CDN URLs would add complexity for no revenue or security benefit.

See Also