DMCA and Copyright Policy

Last updated: 1 August 2026

ChudGames hosts games submitted by other people. We respect copyright, and we act on valid infringement notices under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 512).

⚠ This is a draft and has not been reviewed by counsel, and our designated agent is not yet registered. Safe harbour under § 512 requires a designated agent registered with the U.S. Copyright Office — a filing with a fee and a named person, which a web page cannot substitute for. We follow the process below regardless of registration status, but do not rely on this page as evidence of our safe-harbour position until the registration is recorded here. See docs/LEGAL_REVIEW_REQUIRED.md.

1. Designated agent

Send copyright notices to our designated agent:

Copyright Agent, LAFITTEWARE LLC dmca@chudgames.org

8 The Green, Suite A
Dover, DE 19901
United States

(The U.S. Copyright Office directory entry is still required: safe harbour depends on the agent being registered there, and it is not.)

Use this address for copyright only. Other reports go to abuse@chudgames.org, or through the Report button on any game page — that is the faster route for content-policy problems, which are not copyright problems.

2. Sending a notice of infringement

A notice must be in writing and must include all six of the following (§ 512(c)(3)(A)). A notice missing any of them is not effective, and we will tell you what is missing rather than silently ignoring it.

1. A physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner, or someone authorised to act for them.
2. Identification of the work you say is infringed. For several works at one site, a representative list is enough.
3. Identification of the material you say is infringing, with enough detail for us to find it — the game URL (chudgames.org/game/<slug>), and where inside the game the material appears: which asset, which screen, which sound. “The game contains my art” without a location is not actionable, because we cannot verify it.
4. Your contact information — name, mailing address, telephone number and email address.
5. A statement that you have a good-faith belief that the use is not authorised by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
6. A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorised to act for them.

Before you send one

• Fair use is real. Criticism, commentary, parody and transformative use may be lawful without permission. § 512(f) makes a knowing material misrepresentation actionable — you can be liable for damages and legal fees for a bad-faith notice, and courts have awarded them.
• Trademark, likeness and privacy are not copyright. Those go to legal@chudgames.org, and the process below does not apply to them.
• Assets under an open licence. Many games use CC, CC0, or commercially licensed asset packs. Please check whether the use is licensed before filing.

3. What we do with a notice

1. We acknowledge it, usually within two business days.
2. We check it is complete. An incomplete notice is returned with what is missing.
3. We act on a complete notice expeditiously — normally by delisting the game, which makes it unplayable and removes it from the catalogue site-wide. Where the material is a separable asset, we may instead require the developer to ship a build without it.
4. We notify the developer, with a copy of your notice including your contact details, so they can decide whether to file a counter-notice. If you do not want your details passed on, do not file a notice — we cannot process one without telling the person it accuses.
5. We record the strike against the developer’s account.

4. Counter-notice (for developers)

If your game was removed and you believe that was a mistake or a misidentification, you may send a counter-notice to dmca@chudgames.org. It must include all of the following (§ 512(g)(3)):

1. Your physical or electronic signature.
2. Identification of the material removed and the location where it appeared before removal.
3. A statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good-faith belief the material was removed as a result of mistake or misidentification.
4. Your name, address and telephone number, and a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court for the district where you live (or, if you are outside the United States, the Eastern District of Louisiana), and that you will accept service of process from the person who filed the notice or their agent.

We will forward your counter-notice, including your contact details, to the person who complained. If they do not tell us within 10–14 business days that they have filed a court action seeking to restrain the activity, we may restore the material.

A counter-notice is a legal filing under penalty of perjury. Do not send one to buy time.

5. Repeat infringer policy

We terminate the accounts of repeat infringers, as § 512(i) requires. Our policy:

A strike is withdrawn if the notice is retracted, or if a counter-notice stands unchallenged after the statutory window. Strikes expire 12 months after they are recorded.

Deliberately re-uploading material removed under a valid notice is grounds for immediate termination, regardless of strike count.

6. Abuse of this process

We treat § 512(f) seriously in both directions. A notice sent to remove a competitor, to suppress criticism, or over material the sender does not own, may be reported to the accused party and refused. Repeated bad-faith notices from the same sender will be rejected without individual review.

7. Other rights

8. Contact

LAFITTEWARE LLC
dmca@chudgames.org · legal@chudgames.org · abuse@chudgames.org

8 The Green, Suite A
Dover, DE 19901
United States