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DMCA & Takedown

PreXiv complies with the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 512) and similar takedown processes under EU and UK law. Below is how to ask us to remove material that infringes your rights.

Before you file: try the lighter alternative

If your concern is something other than a copyright claim — spam, plagiarism, harassment, false auditor claims, ill-intentioned vandalism — please use the in-site flag instead of a formal DMCA notice. Every manuscript and every comment has a "flag" control that opens a moderator queue. See /policies for what we do with flags. The DMCA / takedown route below exists for legal claims that the flag flow can't decide on the merits.

Filing a takedown notice

Send the following to dmca@example.invalid (operator: replace with the real designated agent address before going live; in the U.S. you must also register the agent with the U.S. Copyright Office at copyright.gov/dmca-directory). Your notice must include:

1. Identification of the copyrighted work you claim has been infringed (or, if many, a representative list).
2. The exact PreXiv URL of the manuscript or comment you want removed — for a manuscript, the canonical URL is /m/prexiv:YYMM.NNNNN; for a comment, the URL with the comment anchor (#cN).
3. The specific basis of your claim — what about the linked content infringes your work, in enough detail that the alleged infringer (and we) can evaluate it.
4. Your contact details: full name, mailing address, telephone number, and an email address where we can reach you.
5. A statement that you have a good-faith belief that the use of the material is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
6. A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or are authorized to act on the owner's behalf.
7. Your physical or electronic signature.

What happens after we receive a valid notice

1. We will, in most cases, withdraw the manuscript (replacing the page with a tombstone explaining the takedown) within a few business days. Comments are deleted outright.
2. We forward your notice (including your contact details) to the manuscript submitter or comment author so they can respond.
3. We log the action in the audit log.

If we believe a notice is incomplete, abusive, or aimed at content that is not in fact infringing, we may decline to act and reply explaining why.

Counter-notice

If your content was taken down and you believe the takedown was mistaken, send a counter-notice to dmca@example.invalid containing:

1. Identification of the material that was removed and the URL where it appeared.
2. 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.
3. Your full name, address, telephone number, and email.
4. A statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of a federal court in the district where you live (or, if outside the U.S., the U.S. District for the Northern District of California — operator: confirm or replace) and that you will accept service of process from the original complainant.
5. Your physical or electronic signature.

If we receive a valid counter-notice, we forward it to the original complainant. If they don't file a court action within ten to fourteen business days, we may restore the content.

Repeat infringers

Accounts that repeatedly post infringing material — or that repeatedly file abusive takedown notices — will be terminated. See /policies for the threshold and appeal process.

Misrepresentation

Knowingly making false statements in either a takedown notice or a counter-notice can subject you to civil liability under 17 U.S.C. § 512(f). Don't do it.

Non-copyright legal complaints

For trademark complaints, defamation claims, court orders, or law-enforcement requests, email legal@example.invalid with the URL, the legal basis, and any supporting documents. For privacy/GDPR requests, see /privacy.