DMCA

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Yay Bestie makes gifts out of words and pictures, so we care a lot about getting creative rights right, both our own designs and other people’s. This page explains how copyright owners can tell us about material on yaybestie.com that they believe infringes their copyright, how we handle those notices under the United States Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), and how someone whose material was removed can respond with a counter-notice. For trademarks, design rights and other intellectual property, see our Intellectual Property Policy.

DMCA in brief

  • Send notices to: support@yaybestie.com with the subject “DMCA notice”, or by post to the address in section 3.
  • What a notice must contain: the six elements listed in section 4.
  • Our first response: within one business day of receiving a complete notice.
  • Counter-notices: possible if you believe material was removed by mistake (section 7).
  • False claims: knowingly misrepresenting infringement can make the sender liable for damages.

1. What this policy covers

This policy applies to material that appears on yaybestie.com or is produced by Yay Bestie, including:

  • product designs, illustrations, photographs and mock-ups shown on product and category pages;
  • text on our pages, such as product descriptions, help articles and policies;
  • images or text that a customer submitted for personalization and that appears on an item we make;
  • any image, logo or file hosted on our site.

We do not host public user profiles, forums or galleries, so most notices will relate to a product design or to a personalization request. If you believe a physical item we made, rather than a web page, copies your work, this policy still applies: tell us which product and, if you have it, an order number or a photo of the item.

2. Our approach to copyright

We create our designs in-house or license them, and we ask customers to confirm they have the right to use any words or images they submit for personalization. Even so, mistakes can happen, and a customer can submit material they do not own. When a copyright owner tells us about a problem, we act quickly: we review the notice, remove or disable the material if the notice is valid, and stop producing items that use it. We also respect the rights of people who believe a notice was sent in error, which is why the counter-notice process exists.

3. Where to send a notice

Our contact for copyright notices is:

  • Name: Yay Bestie, Copyright Notices
  • Address: 6230 Belmont Trail Ct, San Diego, CA 92130, United States
  • Email: support@yaybestie.com (subject line: “DMCA notice”)

Email is the fastest route. Please send one notice per copyrighted work where possible, or list each work clearly if you include several. Notices about other topics sent to this contact will be passed to the right person, but a notice that is mixed in with an unrelated message may take longer to recognise.

4. What your notice must include

Under 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3), a valid notice must be in writing and include:

  1. a physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or a person authorized to act on their behalf;
  2. identification of the copyrighted work you believe is infringed, or, if several works are covered by one notice, a representative list of them;
  3. identification of the material you believe is infringing and enough information for us to find it, ideally the full URL of each page or image on yaybestie.com, or the product name and a photo of the physical item;
  4. your contact information: name, postal address, telephone number and email address;
  5. 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;
  6. a statement that the information in the notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the owner’s behalf.

If a notice is missing one of these elements, we will usually write back and explain what is needed rather than ignore it. A notice is treated as received when it is complete.

5. What happens after we receive a complete notice

How Yay Bestie handles a DMCA notice
Step What we do Typical timing
1. Acknowledge Confirm receipt and give you a reference number Within one business day
2. Review Check the notice is complete and locate the material Usually within two business days
3. Remove or disable Take down the page, image or product listing, and pause production of affected items Promptly after review
4. Notify Tell the person who supplied the material, where there is one, and send them a copy of the notice with your personal contact details removed if you ask us to At the time of removal
5. Close or counter-notice Close the case, or follow the counter-notice process in section 7 if one arrives Depends on the response

When a notice concerns personalization a customer submitted, we cancel any unproduced items that use the material and refund the customer. We do not reproduce the material again unless the counter-notice process restores it.

6. Before you send a notice

Please consider whether the use might be authorized or permitted by law, for example under fair use, or whether the material is your own work at all. Common patterns that look like copying but often are not: a design using a generic phrase such as “best friends forever”, which is not protected by copyright on its own; two independently drawn cartoon cats that share a pose; or a name in a popular script font. If you are unsure, you may want to speak to a lawyer. Under 17 U.S.C. § 512(f), anyone who knowingly and materially misrepresents that material is infringing can be liable for damages, including costs and attorneys’ fees.

7. Counter-notices

If material you supplied, or a design of ours, was removed because of a notice and you believe that was a mistake or a misidentification, you can send a counter-notice to the contact in section 3. Under 17 U.S.C. § 512(g)(3), it must include:

  1. your physical or electronic signature;
  2. identification of the material that was removed and where it appeared before removal;
  3. a statement, under penalty of perjury, that you have a good-faith belief the material was removed or disabled 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 judicial district of your address (or, if your address is outside the United States, any judicial district in which Yay Bestie may be found), and that you will accept service of process from the person who sent the original notice or their agent.

When we receive a valid counter-notice, we send a copy to the person who sent the original notice and tell them we may restore the material in 10 business days. Unless they tell us within 10 to 14 business days that they have filed a court action to stop the infringement, we may restore the material. Please know that your counter-notice, including your contact details, will be shared with the original complainant.

8. Examples: notices we can act on quickly

To give a sense of what helps, here are three hypothetical examples of the kind of notice that would let us act the same day:

  • An illustrator writes that a cat drawing on one of our ornament listings copies a drawing from their portfolio. They include a link to their original, the link to our product page, and the required statements and signature. We would compare the two, remove the listing and pause production while we investigate how it happened.
  • A photographer writes that a customer uploaded one of their photographs for a night light. They include the photograph, the date it was published and a description of the item. If the item has not yet been made, we cancel it, refund the customer and explain why.
  • A publisher writes that a mug design quotes several lines of a song without permission. They identify the song and the product. We would remove the design and confirm in writing.

Notices that only say “you are copying us” without identifying the work or the page usually need a follow-up email before we can act, which slows things down for everyone.

9. What we share, and what we keep private

When we remove material, we normally send the person who supplied it a copy of the notice so they understand what happened and can decide whether to send a counter-notice. If you would like your personal phone number or address removed from that copy, say so in your notice and we will share only your name and email. We do not publish notices on our website. We may share a notice with a payment provider or authority if the law requires it.

10. Withdrawing a notice

If you sent a notice and later realise the use was licensed, or you resolve the matter directly with the person involved, you can withdraw it by replying to our acknowledgement email. Once a notice is withdrawn in writing, we can restore the material and resume production, and we tell the affected customer that the issue is closed.

11. Items that have already been delivered

A notice can concern a physical item that left us before we knew about the problem, such as a mug delivered last month. In that case we stop making any further copies, remove any related listing, and note the decision on the customer’s order. We do not ask customers to return a delivered personal gift because of a copyright notice, but we will cooperate with a rights owner who needs information to pursue a claim against the person who supplied the material, within the limits of our Privacy Policy and the law.

12. Repeat infringement

We keep a record of notices. Where a customer or supplier repeatedly submits material that infringes other people’s copyright, we may refuse future orders that use submitted artwork from them or end the relationship, in appropriate circumstances and at our discretion.

13. Notices about our own work

The Yay Bestie name, logo and our original designs are ours. If you spot one of our designs being sold by someone else, we would be grateful if you let us know at support@yaybestie.com with a link. We will take it from there.

14. Not legal advice

This page explains our process. It is not legal advice, and it does not change any rights you have under the law. If you need advice about your own situation, please consult a qualified lawyer.

15. Related pages

For trademarks, logos, character likenesses and other rights, read our Intellectual Property Policy. For the rules that apply to personalization you submit, see our Terms of Service. For any other question, visit the Help Center or contact us through the Submit Ticket page.