DMCA / Copyright Policy
How to report copyright infringement on UBee, how counter-notices work, and our repeat-infringer policy.
The short version (the full policy below controls if there's ever a conflict):
UBee respects intellectual property and responds to valid copyright notices under the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"). If you believe content on UBee infringes your copyright, send a written notice with the required details to our designated agent at [email protected]; we will act on valid notices and notify the affected user. If your content was removed by mistake, you can send a counter-notice. We end the accounts of repeat infringers in appropriate cases. Knowingly making false claims in a notice or counter-notice can carry legal liability. UBee is a text-only service with no photo or video uploads, so the material this policy usually concerns is user-posted text and profile details.
Contents
- Introduction & scope
- Before you send a notice
- How to submit a copyright notice
- Notices we cannot act on
- Our designated agent
- What we do with a valid notice
- What we share with the parties
- Counter-notification
- What happens after a counter-notice
- Withdrawing a notice or counter-notice
- Repeat infringers
- Misrepresentation & liability
- Trademark & other rights
- Relationship to our other policies
- Changes to this policy
- How to contact us
1. Introduction & scope
UBee, operated by WooWay LLC ("WooWay," "UBee," "we," "us," or "our"), respects the intellectual property rights of others and expects the people who use UBee to do the same. This policy explains how copyright owners can report material on UBee that they believe infringes their rights, and how the people who posted that material can respond, using the notice-and-takedown framework of the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. §512). UBee is a text-only service and does not offer photo or video uploads, so the user content this policy typically concerns is text such as messages, posts ("Moments"), display names, and profile details.
2. Before you send a notice
Submitting a copyright notice is a serious legal step. Before you send one, please make sure you actually own (or are authorized to act for the owner of) the copyright in the work, and consider whether the use you are reporting might be permitted — for example, by a license or by the fair-use doctrine. The law requires a complaining party to consider whether the material is a fair use before sending a notice. If you are unsure whether material infringes your copyright, you may wish to consult an attorney. Knowingly misrepresenting that material is infringing can make you liable for damages, including costs and attorneys' fees (see Section 12).
3. How to submit a copyright notice
To report content you believe infringes your copyright, send a written notice to our designated agent at [email protected]. To be effective under 17 U.S.C. §512(c)(3), your notice must include substantially all of the following:
- a physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright that is allegedly infringed;
- identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed (or, if several works at one location are covered by one notice, a representative list of those works);
- identification of the material claimed to be infringing, and information reasonably sufficient to let us locate it (for example, the username, the text of the post or message, and any other detail that helps us find it on the Service);
- your contact information, such as your name, address, telephone number, and email address;
- a statement that you have a good-faith belief that the use of the material complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
- a statement that the information in the notice is accurate, and — under penalty of perjury — that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the right that is allegedly infringed.
Notices that do not substantially include these elements may not be effective, and may delay or prevent us from acting on them.
4. Notices we cannot act on
A notice or counter-notice that does not substantially include the elements described in this policy may not be effective, and we may be unable to act on it. If a submission is incomplete or unclear, we may ask you for the missing information before we can proceed, which can delay our response. We do not have an obligation to monitor the Service for infringement or to resolve the underlying merits of a copyright dispute between you and another person; our role under this policy is to respond to validly submitted notices and counter-notices. Please do not send the same notice repeatedly, and please use this process only for copyright matters — other concerns are handled through the channels described in our other policies.
5. Our designated agent
WooWay LLC has designated an agent to receive notifications of claimed copyright infringement for UBee, and that agent is registered with the United States Copyright Office. You can send notices and counter-notices in writing to the designated agent at [email protected]. The agent's full registered contact details are part of the public record and can be found in the U.S. Copyright Office's Designated Agent Directory at dmca.copyright.gov, which is the authoritative record for this designation.
6. What we do with a valid notice
When we receive a notice that substantially complies with the requirements above, we will respond by expeditiously removing or disabling access to the material that is the subject of the notice, in accordance with the DMCA. We will also take reasonable steps to notify the user who posted the material that it has been removed or disabled, and we may provide that user a copy of the notice so they can respond. We do not have an obligation to monitor the Service for infringement, and we may also act on infringement we become aware of in other ways.
7. What we share with the parties
This process works by sharing information between the parties so they can respond. When we remove or disable material in response to a notice, we may give the affected user a copy of the notice, which can include your name and contact information, so they understand why their content was affected and can decide whether to submit a counter-notice. Likewise, if we receive a counter-notice, we may forward it — including the counter-notifier's contact information — to the person who submitted the original notice. Please submit only information you are comfortable having shared with the other party for this purpose. We handle the information in these submissions consistent with our Privacy Policy.
8. Counter-notification
If your content was removed or disabled and you believe this was a mistake or a misidentification, you may send a counter-notice in writing to our designated agent at [email protected]. To be effective under 17 U.S.C. §512(g)(3), your counter-notice must include substantially all of the following:
- your physical or electronic signature;
- identification of the material that was removed or disabled, and the location where it appeared before it was removed;
- 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; and
- your name, address, and telephone number, and 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 we may be found), and that you will accept service of process from the person who submitted the original notice or that person's agent.
9. What happens after a counter-notice
If we receive a valid counter-notice, we may forward it to the person who submitted the original notice and let them know we may restore the removed material. Unless that person notifies us that they have filed a court action seeking to keep the material off the Service, we may restore it not less than 10, nor more than 14, business days after we receive your counter-notice. Restoring content does not affect our right to act on it under our Terms of Service or Community Guidelines for separate reasons.
10. Withdrawing a notice or counter-notice
If you submitted a notice or a counter-notice and no longer wish to pursue it — for example, because the matter has been resolved directly between the parties — you may withdraw it by emailing our designated agent at [email protected] and identifying the submission you want to withdraw. Depending on the stage of the process, a timely withdrawal of a notice may allow us to restore affected material, and a withdrawal of a counter-notice may end the restoration process. We may inform the other party that a submission has been withdrawn.
11. Repeat infringers
Consistent with 17 U.S.C. §512(i), we have adopted and reasonably implement a policy of terminating, in appropriate circumstances, the accounts of users who are repeat infringers. We keep records of the notices we act on and associate them with the account responsible for the material. An account that accumulates repeated, valid claims of infringement may be subject to escalating action — including warnings, limits on features, and, in appropriate circumstances, permanent termination — taking into account the totality of the circumstances, including any counter-notices and the nature and number of claims. Material that is removed and later restored following a valid counter-notice is generally not counted against an account. We may also limit or remove content and take other action under our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines for separate reasons.
12. Misrepresentation & liability
Under 17 U.S.C. §512(f), any person who knowingly materially misrepresents that material is infringing, or that material was removed or disabled by mistake or misidentification, may be liable for damages — including costs and attorneys' fees — incurred as a result of our reliance on that misrepresentation. Please use this process in good faith.
13. Trademark & other rights
This policy concerns copyright. If you have a concern about trademark, impersonation, or other intellectual-property or related rights, please contact [email protected], and review our Community Guidelines, which prohibit impersonation and the infringement of others' rights.
14. Relationship to our other policies
This policy is part of, and should be read together with, our Terms of Service, Community Guidelines, and Privacy Policy. For non-consensual intimate imagery, please use our TAKE IT DOWN process instead of this copyright process. Nothing here limits any other rights or remedies available to us or to you under applicable law.
15. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time — for example, to reflect changes in our practices or in the law. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date above and, where appropriate, provide additional notice. Your continued use of UBee after an update takes effect means you accept the revised policy, to the extent permitted by law.
16. How to contact us
Send copyright notices and counter-notices to our designated agent at [email protected]. For other legal matters, use [email protected]; for general help, use [email protected]. Email is the fastest and best way to reach us.