DMCA Notice & Takedown Policy

Version v1-2026-05-13 · Last updated 2026-05-13.

Chokala respects the intellectual-property rights of others and expects users of the Platform to do the same. This page describes how to notify Chokala of claimed copyright infringement on the Platform under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"), 17 U.S.C. § 512, and how a creator whose content has been removed may file a counter-notice.

1. About the DMCA

The DMCA provides a process for copyright owners to request removal of material they believe infringes their copyrights, and a process for the person who posted the material to dispute the claim. As an online service provider hosting user content, Chokala complies with valid DMCA notices that meet the statutory requirements outlined below.

2. How to file a takedown notice

If you believe content hosted on chokala.gg infringes a copyright you own or are authorized to enforce, send a written notice to our designated agent (see §4) that includes ALL of the following elements required by 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3):

1. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed. If the notice covers multiple works, a representative list is sufficient.
2. Identification of the infringing material on chokala.gg, including a URL or other information reasonably sufficient to permit Chokala to locate it.
3. Your contact information: full legal name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address.
4. A good-faith statement: a statement that you have a good-faith belief that the use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
5. An accuracy statement: a statement that the information in the notice is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that you are the copyright owner or are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner.
6. Your physical or electronic signature.

Notices that omit any of these elements may not be processed. Chokala may, but is not required to, contact you for additional information; an incomplete notice may be discarded.

Note on misrepresentation. Under 17 U.S.C. § 512(f), any person who knowingly materially misrepresents that material is infringing may be liable for damages, including costs and attorneys' fees, incurred by the alleged infringer or Chokala. Do not file a notice in bad faith.

3. How Chokala responds

Upon receipt of a notice that substantially complies with §2, Chokala will:

• Remove or disable access to the identified material in a timely manner. [OPERATOR-VERIFY: response-time target — see Acceptable Use Policy for our published takedown SLA].
• Notify the creator who posted the material, providing them with a copy of the takedown notice (with sender contact information forwarded so the creator may file a counter-notice if appropriate).
• Apply a strike to the affected creator account under our repeat-infringer policy (see §6).

4. Designated DMCA agent

Chokala's designated agent for receiving notices of claimed copyright infringement under the DMCA is:

[OPERATOR-FILE] the designated agent above must also be filed with the U.S. Copyright Office. As of last verification the Copyright Office maintains the registration directory at https://www.copyright.gov/dmca-directory/. Until that filing completes, Chokala's ability to invoke §512(c) safe-harbor protections is limited. The filing is operator action and is tracked in ../chokalagg-internal-living-docs/internal-docs/runbooks/dmca-agent-registration.md.

Email is the fastest route for routine notices. Mail or courier delivery is required only if you wish to send original signed documents. Please do not send DMCA notices to legal@chokala.gg or any other address — only notices sent to the designated agent above are guaranteed to be processed under the DMCA framework.

5. Counter-notice procedure

If you are a creator whose content has been removed in response to a DMCA takedown notice, and you believe the takedown was the result of mistake or misidentification, you may file a counter-notice with our designated agent (see §4). A valid counter-notice must include ALL of the following elements required by 17 U.S.C. § 512(g)(3):

1. Identification of the material that was removed and the location at which it appeared before removal.
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 legal name, mailing address, and telephone number.
4. 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, any judicial district in which Chokala may be found, and that you will accept service of process from the person who filed the original takedown notice or that person's agent.
5. Your physical or electronic signature.

Upon receipt of a valid counter-notice, Chokala will forward a copy to the original notifier and inform them that the material may be restored in 10 to 14 business days unless the notifier files a court action seeking to restrain the creator from engaging in the allegedly infringing activity. If we receive notice of such an action, the material will not be restored. If we do not receive notice of an action within that window, we may restore the material.

6. Repeat-infringer policy

[OPERATOR-VERIFY] Chokala maintains a policy of terminating, in appropriate circumstances, the accounts of creators who are repeat infringers of copyright. The current framework is a three-strike policy:

• First strike. First valid DMCA takedown notice against a creator results in removal of the affected content + a written warning to the creator's registered email.
• Second strike. Second valid DMCA takedown against the same creator within a 12-month rolling window results in removal + a temporary suspension of the creator's account (length determined by Chokala at its sole discretion based on circumstances).
• Third strike. Third valid DMCA takedown against the same creator within a 12-month rolling window results in removal + permanent account termination, including forfeiture of any pending payouts (subject to applicable law).

Chokala reserves the right to terminate any account at any time, including in response to a single egregious violation, without going through the strike framework. Counter-notices that are sustained (i.e. material restored without court action) do not count as strikes.

7. Trademark and other intellectual-property claims

Claims of trademark infringement, right-of-publicity violations, or other non-copyright intellectual-property concerns should be directed to legal@chokala.gg rather than to the DMCA agent. The DMCA framework above applies only to copyright claims under U.S. law.

8. Changes to this policy

Chokala may update this DMCA policy from time to time. Material changes will be announced on this page. The designated- agent contact is filed with the U.S. Copyright Office and will also be updated there per their renewal cadence (typically every three years).

See also: Acceptable Use Policy, Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, Comprehensive disclaimers reference — single-page consolidation of platform legal language for historical reference + reviewer access. Each Creator's profile operates under that Creator's own posted policies in addition to this Platform-level policy.

Version v1-2026-05-13 — MVP. Full attorney review pending; tracked in ../chokalagg-internal-living-docs/internal-docs/legal-pass-required.md. Designated-agent registration with U.S. Copyright Office is operator action; tracked in ../chokalagg-internal-living-docs/internal-docs/runbooks/dmca-agent-registration.md.

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