DMCA Policy

Hiddlins (“Hiddlins”, “we”, “us” or “our”) respects the intellectual property rights of others and expects everyone who uses hiddlins.com to do the same. As web developers, we care about licensing every day: in the code we write, the fonts we load and the images we publish. This DMCA Policy explains how to tell us about content on our website that you believe infringes your copyright, and how we respond, in line with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), 17 U.S.C. §512. Last updated: October 14, 2026.

Overview#

The DMCA establishes a “notice and takedown” process that lets copyright owners ask online service providers to remove or disable access to allegedly infringing material, and lets the person who posted that material respond. The full text of the relevant section is available from the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School (17 U.S. Code §512).

This policy applies to all content published on our website, including:

• articles, tutorials and code samples on our blog;
• images, illustrations, icons, fonts and other media;
• service and product descriptions in our services shop;
• portfolio entries and screenshots in our portfolio; and
• any content submitted by users, such as comments, if that feature is enabled.

This policy does not cover websites we have built for clients and that are hosted and operated by those clients. If you believe a client’s website infringes your rights, please contact the operator of that website or its hosting provider. If you are unsure who operates a site, you may contact us and, where appropriate, we will forward your concern to the client.

Our designated copyright agent#

Notices of claimed infringement and counter-notifications should be sent to our designated copyright agent by email:

Copyright Agent, Hiddlins
Email: hello@hiddlins.com

Please use the subject line “DMCA Notice” or “DMCA Counter-Notification” so that your message is routed and prioritised correctly. Email is the fastest way to reach us. The U.S. Copyright Office maintains a public DMCA Designated Agent Directory of agents that service providers have registered.

This contact is only for copyright matters. Other enquiries sent to it may not receive a reply; please use our contact page instead.

How to submit a notice of infringement#

To be effective under 17 U.S.C. §512(c)(3), your notice must be a written communication sent to our designated agent that includes substantially the following:

1. Signature. A physical or electronic signature of a person authorised to act on behalf of the owner of the exclusive right that is allegedly infringed. A typed full name at the end of an email is generally accepted as an electronic signature.
2. Identification of the copyrighted work. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed or, if multiple works are covered by a single notice, a representative list of such works. A link to where the original work is published, or its registration number if registered, is very helpful.
3. Identification of the infringing material. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, with information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate it. Please give the exact URL of each page and, where a page contains several items, describe the specific image, paragraph or code block.
4. Contact information. Information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact you, such as your name, address, telephone number and email address.
5. Good-faith statement. 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. Accuracy statement. A statement that the information in the notification is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you are authorised to act on behalf of the owner of the exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Suggested notice wording#

You are free to write the notice in your own words. If it helps, you can adapt the following template:

Subject: DMCA Notice

1. Copyrighted work: {title and description of your work, with a link to the original}
2. Infringing material: {exact URL(s) on the Hiddlins website and a description of the item}
3. Contact details: {full name, postal address, phone number, email}
4. I 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.
5. The information in this notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury,
   I am the owner, or am authorized to act on behalf of the owner, of an exclusive
   right that is allegedly infringed.

Signature: {typed full name}
Date: {date}

Incomplete notices#

If a notice does not substantially comply with these requirements, we may not be able to act on it. Where a notice substantially meets the requirements for identifying the work and the material and providing contact details, we will contact you to request the missing information, as contemplated by §512(c)(3)(B). Please respond promptly so we can complete our review.

How we process notices#

We take every notice seriously and handle it in a consistent, documented way. The table below shows our target timeline. Complex notices, or those covering many items, may take longer, and we will keep you informed.

Stage	What happens	Target timeframe
Acknowledgement	We confirm receipt of your notice by email.	Within 2 business days
Review	We check that the notice is complete and locate the material.	Within 3 business days of receipt
Removal or disabling of access	If the notice is valid, we expeditiously remove the material or disable access to it.	Normally within 1 business day of completing review
Notification of the poster	Where the material was provided by a user or third party, we take reasonable steps to notify them promptly and provide a copy of the notice.	At the time of removal
Counter-notification window	If we receive a valid counter-notification, we forward it to you.	Promptly on receipt
Possible restoration	The material may be restored unless you notify us that you have filed a court action.	Not less than 10, nor more than 14, business days after receiving the counter-notification

Where material on our website was created or selected by us, rather than posted by a user, we may also review the claim on its merits, correct attribution, replace an image or rewrite a passage, and we will let you know what we have done.

Please note that removal is not an admission of liability or an acknowledgement that the claim is valid. It is part of the process the law establishes.

Counter-notification#

If material you provided was removed or disabled because of a notice and you believe this was a mistake or misidentification, you may send a counter-notification to our designated agent. Under 17 U.S.C. §512(g)(3), a counter-notification must be a written communication that includes substantially the following:

1. Your physical or electronic signature.
2. Identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled, and the location at which the material appeared before it was removed or access to it was disabled.
3. 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 to be removed or disabled.
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 your address is located or, if your address is outside the United States, for any judicial district in which the service provider may be found, and that you will accept service of process from the person who provided the original notification or an agent of that person.

What happens after a counter-notification#

When we receive a valid counter-notification, we will promptly send a copy to the person who submitted the original notice and tell them that we will restore the removed material, or cease disabling access to it, in 10 business days. We will then restore the material not less than 10, nor more than 14, business days after receiving the counter-notification, unless our designated agent first receives notice from the original complainant that they have filed an action seeking a court order to restrain the alleged infringement.

Please be aware that your counter-notification, including your contact details, will be shared with the original complainant, who may use it to bring legal proceedings.

Repeat infringer policy#

In accordance with 17 U.S.C. §512(i), it is our policy, in appropriate circumstances, to disable or terminate the accounts and access of users who are repeat infringers. Our website offers limited user features, such as customer accounts for ordering services and, where enabled, comments. Where any user is the subject of multiple valid infringement notices that have not been successfully countered, we may:

• remove the user’s submitted content;
• disable the user’s ability to comment or submit content;
• close the user’s account, subject to completing or refunding any outstanding orders; and
• block further access to the website.

We decide what is appropriate based on the circumstances, including the number of notices, the nature of the material and whether the infringement appears deliberate. We may also act against a user before reaching a particular number of notices where infringement is clear.

Misrepresentation and fair use#

Under 17 U.S.C. §512(f), any person who knowingly materially misrepresents that material or activity is infringing, or that material or activity was removed or disabled by mistake or misidentification, may be liable for damages, including costs and attorneys’ fees, incurred by the alleged infringer, by the copyright owner or its licensee, or by the service provider.

Before sending a notice, please consider whether the use of your work could be permitted by law, for example as fair use under 17 U.S.C. §107. Copyright owners are expected to consider fair use before issuing a takedown notice. Commentary, criticism, education and short quotations with attribution are common examples of uses that may be lawful. If you are unsure whether your rights are infringed, we recommend seeking advice from a qualified lawyer before submitting a notice.

We reserve the right to disregard notices that appear fraudulent, abusive or intended to suppress lawful content, and to publish or share such notices with organisations that track takedown abuse, with personal contact details removed.

Notices from outside the United States#

The DMCA is a U.S. law, but we respect copyright wherever the owner is based. If you are located outside the United States, or your claim is based on the law of another country, you may still contact our designated agent. Please include the same information described in the notice requirements above, together with:

• the country whose law you believe has been infringed; and
• any specific legal provision or process you are relying on, such as a notice under the EU Digital Services Act or applicable national copyright law.

We will review non-U.S. notices in good faith and in line with applicable law. Depending on the circumstances, we may remove material, add attribution, request more information or explain why we believe the use is lawful. The counter-notification process described above may not apply in the same way to claims made under other legal systems; where it does not, we will still give the person who provided the material an opportunity to respond where that is appropriate.

Trademarks and other rights#

The DMCA process applies to copyright only. If your concern relates to a trademark, a privacy right, defamation or another legal issue, please contact us through our contact page or at hello@hiddlins.com with a clear explanation, and we will review it under the applicable law. For privacy matters, please also see our Privacy Policy.

Our own approach to licensing#

We aim to avoid infringement in the first place. We use images, fonts, icons and code under licences that permit our use, credit sources on our Image Credits page, write our own articles and code samples, and quote third-party material only to the extent needed for commentary or education. Our approach to content creation, including the use of AI-assisted tools, is set out in our Editorial Policy. When we make a mistake, we want to know about it and fix it.

Record keeping and privacy#

We keep copies of notices, counter-notifications and related correspondence for as long as needed to manage the claim, comply with the law and defend any legal claims. As described above, the law requires us to share counter-notifications with complainants and notices with the person who provided the material. Otherwise, we handle personal data in these communications in line with our Privacy Policy.

Changes to this DMCA Policy#

We may update this policy to reflect changes in the law or in how our website works. The “last updated” date at the top of this page shows when it was last revised. Notices are handled under the version of this policy in effect when we receive them.

Contact us#

For DMCA notices and counter-notifications, please email our designated agent at hello@hiddlins.com using the subject lines described above. For informal questions about content on our website, such as a missing credit or a request to remove an image, you are welcome to write to us through our contact page. We would always rather resolve a concern quickly and amicably.

Hiddlins