(September 2020)
TrustRatings has adopted the following general policy toward copyright infringement in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act or DMCA (posted at www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf). The address of TrustRatings's Designated Agent to Receive Notification of Claimed Infringement ("Designated Agent") is listed at the end of this policy.
It is TrustRatings's policy to (1) block access to or remove material that it believes in good faith to be copyrighted material that has been illegally copied and distributed by any of our advertisers, affiliates, content providers, members or users; and (2) remove and discontinue service to repeat offenders.
1. Procedure for Reporting Copyright Infringement
If you believe that material or content residing on or accessible through the Services infringes a copyright, please send a notice of copyright infringement containing the following information to the Designated Agent listed at the end of this policy:
a. A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright that has been allegedly infringed;
b. Identification of works or materials being infringed;
c. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing including information regarding the location of the infringing materials that the copyright owner seeks to have removed, with sufficient detail so that TrustRatings is capable of finding and verifying its existence;
d. Contact information about the notifier including address, telephone number and, if available, email address;
e. A statement that the notifier has a good faith belief that the material identified in (3) is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
f. A statement made under penalty of perjury that the information provided is accurate and the notifying party is authorized to make the complaint on behalf of the copyright owner.
Once Proper Bona Fide Infringement Notification is Received by the Designated Agent, it is TrustRatings's policy:
a. to remove or disable access to the infringing material;
b. to notify the content provider, member or user that it has removed or disabled access to the material; and
c. that repeat offenders will have the infringing material removed from the system and that TrustRatings will terminate such content provider's, member's or user's access to the Service.
2. Procedure to Supply a Counter-Notice to the Designated Agent
If the content provider, member or user believes that the material that was removed (or to which access was disabled) is not infringing, or the content provider, member or user believes that it has the right to post and use such material from the copyright owner, the copyright owner's agent, or, pursuant to the law, the content provider, member, or user, must send a counter-notice containing the following information to the Designated Agent listed below:
a. A physical or electronic signature of the content provider, member or user;
b. 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 disabled;
c. A statement that the content provider, member or user has a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material; and
d. Content provider's, member's or user's name, address, telephone number, and, if available, email address, and a statement that such person or entity consents to the jurisdiction of the Federal Court for the judicial district in which the content provider's, member's or user's address is located, or, if the content provider's, member's or user's address is located outside the United States, for any judicial district in which TrustRatings is located, and that such person or entity will accept service of process from the person who provided notification of the alleged infringement.
If a counter-notice is received by the Designated Agent, TrustRatings may send a copy of the counter-notice to the original complaining party informing that person that TrustRatings may replace the removed material or cease disabling it in 10 business days. Unless the copyright owner files an action seeking a court order against the content provider, member or user, the removed material may be replaced or access to it restored in 10 to 14 business days or more after receipt of the counter-notice, at TrustRatings's discretion.
You may contact TrustRatings's Designated Agent to Receive Notification of Claimed Infringement at the following address: support@trustratings.com or TrustRatings.