1. Overview
Aliso LLC, a California limited liability company doing business as Web Cited ("Aliso LLC," "Web Cited," "we," "us"), operates the website at web-cited.com (the "Site") and the audit, monitoring, and advisory services offered through it (the "Services"). In the course of an audit engagement, a Free Snapshot, or a Citation Monitor subscription, customers submit information to Web Cited (intake-form content, URLs, buyer-question prompts, competitor lists, brand assets, and supporting materials) that Web Cited processes to produce deliverables. Web Cited also publishes its own audit reports, Playbooks, Schema Packs, marketing pages, and research at private and public URLs on web-cited.com.
This page sets out the procedure for submitting a notice of copyright infringement under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"), 17 U.S.C. section 512, and the procedure for submitting a counter-notice if material was removed as a result of a notice. The procedure is intended to satisfy the requirements of Section 512(c)(3) (infringement notice) and Section 512(g)(3) (counter-notice). The cross-reference in Terms of Service Section 18 points here for the formal procedure.
2. Where to send DMCA notices
Aliso LLC is registered with the United States Copyright Office as the designated DMCA agent for Web Cited and its sister products. The current entry is published in the Copyright Office's public DMCA Designated Agent directory.
Send notices of claimed copyright infringement to Aliso LLC dba Web Cited by email to [email protected] with the subject line "DMCA notice". Submissions sent to that address with the correct subject line are routed to the person responsible for handling DMCA matters at Aliso LLC.
3. How to submit a notice of claimed infringement
If you believe content published on web-cited.com or distributed in a Web Cited deliverable infringes a copyright you own or are authorized to enforce, submit a written notice by email to [email protected] with the subject line "DMCA notice".
To be effective under Section 512(c)(3), your notice must include each of the following six elements:
- Signature. A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright that is allegedly infringed. A typed name at the close of an email qualifies as an electronic signature for this purpose.
- Identification of the copyrighted work. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works are covered by a single notice, a representative list of such works. Include the title, the registration number (if registered with the United States Copyright Office), and any other identifier you rely on.
- Identification of the allegedly infringing material. Identification of the material claimed to be infringing, with information reasonably sufficient to permit Aliso LLC to locate the material. Include a direct URL on web-cited.com where you encountered the material if one is available. For content stored at a private Playbook URL, a private Snapshot URL, a delivered audit report, a delivered Schema Pack file, or a delivered Citation Monitor reading, include the engagement identifier, the filename, the page number, and any other locator you have. If you cannot point to a public URL, describe the content with enough specificity that Aliso LLC can find it without guessing.
- Contact information. Information reasonably sufficient to permit Aliso LLC to contact you, including your full legal name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address.
- Good-faith statement. 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.
- Sworn statement. A statement, made under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
Aliso LLC reserves the right to decline to act on notices that do not substantially comply with the requirements of Section 512(c)(3).
Material misrepresentation. Under Section 512(f), a person who knowingly materially misrepresents that material or activity is infringing may be liable for damages, including costs and attorneys' fees, incurred by the alleged infringer or by Aliso LLC. Submit a notice only if you have a good-faith basis for the claim.
4. What happens after Aliso LLC receives a valid notice
If a notice satisfies the requirements of Section 512(c)(3), Aliso LLC will act expeditiously to remove or disable access to the identified material. Aliso LLC will also take reasonable steps to notify the customer or content owner whose material is affected and will provide that party with a copy of the notice (subject to the redaction handling described in Section 9 below).
Aliso LLC does not undertake to evaluate the merits of the underlying copyright claim. Removal in response to a notice is not an admission of liability and is not a finding that the material in fact infringes. The affected party may submit a counter-notice under Section 5 below.
5. How to submit a counter-notice
If your content was removed or access to it was disabled as a result of a DMCA notice and you believe the removal was the result of mistake or misidentification, you may submit a counter-notice under Section 512(g)(3). Submit by email to [email protected] with the subject line "DMCA counter-notice".
To be effective, a counter-notice must include each of the following:
- Signature. Your physical or electronic signature.
- Identification of the removed material. 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 (for example, the engagement identifier, the filename, the page reference, or the URL).
- Sworn statement of good-faith belief. 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.
- Contact information. Your full legal name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address.
- Consent to jurisdiction. 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 Aliso LLC may be found, AND that you will accept service of process from the person who provided the original notice of claimed infringement, or that person's agent.
After Aliso LLC receives a valid counter-notice, it will forward a copy to the person who submitted the original notice and inform them that Aliso LLC will replace the removed material or cease disabling access to it in not less than ten (10) and not more than fourteen (14) business days following receipt of the counter-notice, unless Aliso LLC first receives notice from the original notifier that they have filed an action seeking a court order to restrain the affected party from infringing activity relating to the material.
Material misrepresentation. Under Section 512(f), a person who knowingly materially misrepresents that material or activity was removed or disabled by mistake or misidentification may be liable for damages. Submit a counter-notice only if you have a good-faith basis for that statement.
6. Repeat-infringer policy
Aliso LLC maintains and reasonably implements a policy for terminating, in appropriate circumstances, the accounts of customers who are repeat copyright infringers. In determining whether termination is appropriate, Aliso LLC may consider factors including the number, nature, credibility, and outcome of infringement notices and counter-notices received. Termination under this policy is in addition to, and not in place of, any other right or remedy available to Aliso LLC under the Terms of Service or applicable law.
7. Standard technical measures
Aliso LLC accommodates and does not interfere with standard technical measures used by copyright owners to identify or protect copyrighted works, as contemplated by Section 512(i).
8. Customer responsibility for submitted content
Customers are solely responsible for ensuring they have the necessary rights, permissions, or legal authority to submit Customer Content to Web Cited for use in an audit, a Free Snapshot, or a Citation Monitor subscription. Customers represent and warrant under Terms of Service Section 5 that they hold those rights. Aliso LLC does not independently audit upload provenance.
9. Confidentiality of notice content
When Aliso LLC forwards a notice or counter-notice to the affected party as described above, it may forward the full notice including the notifier's contact information. Aliso LLC may redact personal contact information from forwarded notices where it reasonably determines that redaction will not impair the recipient's ability to evaluate or respond to the claim. Section 512(g)(2)(B) requires Aliso LLC to provide the affected party with the notice so that party can identify the basis for the takedown; Aliso LLC will not redact information necessary for that purpose.
10. No waiver
Aliso LLC's response to a notice or counter-notice does not waive any right, defense, or legal position available to Aliso LLC under applicable law.
11. Changes to this procedure
Aliso LLC may update this procedure from time to time. Material changes will be posted on this page with a revised "Last updated" date. The procedure in effect at the time a notice or counter-notice is received governs the handling of that submission.
12. Contact
Questions about this procedure that are not themselves DMCA notices: email [email protected] with the subject line "DMCA question". Actual notices and counter-notices should be sent to the same address with the appropriate subject line as described in Sections 3 and 5.
Aliso LLC dba Web Cited, web-cited.com.