Copyright Policy

Last updated: July 7, 2026

Important: This policy describes Canada's copyright framework and our own practice accurately, but it has not been reviewed by a lawyer. Because our servers are in the United States, both Canadian and U.S. copyright expectations can be relevant; qualified counsel should review this before it's relied upon as final.

1. Canada's notice-and-notice regime

FumikoEcho Network operates from Alberta, Canada, and is primarily governed by Canada's Copyright Act, which uses a "notice-and-notice" system — different from the United States' DMCA "notice-and-takedown" system many people expect:

When we receive a valid infringement notice about content on the Site, we are legally required to forward it to the user who uploaded the content and to retain records connecting the notice to that user (generally for six months, or one year if the copyright owner starts a lawsuit).
Canadian law does not require us to remove content merely because a notice was received, and a notice is not itself proof that infringement occurred.

As a matter of our own practice — beyond the strict requirements of Canadian law — we also review complaints on their merits and will remove or restrict content where infringement appears clear, using the same tools we use for any other policy violation. This is a good-faith middle ground for a platform with an international audience.

2. How to submit a copyright complaint

Use the "Report" button on the relevant video, or email contact@fumikoecho.ca with subject "Copyright Complaint" and include:

Identification of the copyrighted work you say is infringed;
The specific URL(s) on the Site of the allegedly infringing content;
Your contact information (name, email, and mailing address if available);
A statement that you have a good-faith belief the use is not authorized by the owner, its agent, or the law;
A statement, made under penalty of perjury, that the information is accurate and that you are the owner or authorized to act for them;
Your physical or electronic signature.

Notices missing this information may not be actionable and may not be forwarded.

3. What happens next

We forward the notice (or its relevant parts) to the uploading account, as the Copyright Act requires;
We retain records linking the notice to the account for the period required by law;
We independently review the complaint against our Terms and, where the claim appears clearly valid, remove or restrict the content as a matter of our own practice.

We do not disclose the uploader's identity to the complainant unless required by a court order.

4. Counter-notice

If your content was removed and you believe that was a mistake or misidentification, email contact@fumikoecho.ca explaining why. We review counter-notices on their merits; there is no guaranteed reinstatement timeline, and we may decline to reinstate content that otherwise violates our Terms regardless of the copyright question.

5. Repeat infringers

Accounts subject to repeated, well-founded copyright complaints will be sanctioned under our enforcement system (warning, suspension, or termination), the same as any other Terms violation. See the Terms of Service for how sanctions and appeals work.

6. Your own content

Uploading does not transfer ownership to us. As described in the Terms, you keep ownership and grant only the license needed to host and display your content on the Site.