BackerKit Copyright Policy

BackerKit has established a copyright policy in line with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (“DMCA”), which includes removing content identified through a valid DMCA takedown notice. Under Section 512 of the DMCA, guidelines are provided for submitting claims of copyright infringement and for issuing a counter-notification. BackerKit holds the discretion to remove or disable content accused of infringement and to terminate the accounts of users who are repeat infringers.

It is important to note that while BackerKit is obligated to follow procedure outlined by the DMCA, BackerKit does not make judgements regarding the copyright claim itself. If a project is removed or reinstated as part of the DMCA process, it does not indicate fault of the creator.

Reporting potential copyright infringement

To report copyright infringement on BackerKit's platform or through its services, please submit a DMCA Notice adhering to the guidelines provided below. Incomplete notices may not result in any action from BackerKit.

Your DMCA Notice must contain the following information:

A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site.
Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to locate the material.
Information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail address at which the complaining party may be contacted.
A statement that the complaining party has 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.
A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Please send a complete DMCA Notice to BackerKit’s registered DMCA Agent by mail or email:

Diaspora, Inc. (aka BackerKit)

Attention: DMCA Agent Maxwell Salzberg 

1600 Bryant St #411447

San Francisco, CA 94141 

Email: legal@backerkit.com

BackerKit’s obligations after receiving a DMCA Notice

Upon receiving a fully-completed DMCA Notice, BackerKit’s policy is to remove or restrict access to the infringing material or project pending resolution or conclusion of the DMCA process. BackerKit will also forward a copy of the notice to the BackerKit user who posted the alleged infringing content, including the contact details of the complainant.

Disputing a DMCA Notice as a creator

If your project is the subject of a DMCA Notice and has been removed or access restricted, and you believe that your project’s material is not infringing of any copyright or trademark, or that you have authorization or a right to post and use that material from the copyright owner or pursuant to law, you can submit a counter-notification to BackerKit’s DMCA Agent by emailing us at dmca@backerkit.com.

Your DMCA Counter-Notice must contain the following information:

A physical or electronic signature of the Respondent
The name, address, and telephone number of the Respondent
Identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been restricted and the location at which the material appeared before it was removed or access to it was restricted
A statement, made under penalty of perjury, that the Respondent has a good faith belief that the material was removed or access restricted as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material
A statement that the Respondent consents to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court for the judicial district in which the address is located, or if the Respondent 's address is outside of the United States, for any judicial district in which the service provider may be found, and that the Respondent will accept service of process from the Complainant or an agent of the Complainant.

Please send a complete DMCA Counter-Notice to BackerKit’s registered DMCA Agent by mail or email:

Diaspora, Inc. (aka BackerKit)

Attention: DMCA Agent Maxwell Salzberg 

1600 Bryant St #411447

San Francisco, CA 94141 

Email: legal@backerkit.com

DMCA Notice and Counter-Notice review process

After receiving a DMCA Counter-Notice, access to your project or the material in question will stay restricted until the DMCA Notice is resolved, or until 10 days minimum and 14 days maximum without any confirmation that the owner has pursued legal action for a court order. Throughout this time, the project creator will still have the ability to communicate with their backers, make changes to their project, or remove their project.

Once BackerKit receives a DMCA Counter-Notice, we will send it on to the individual who filed the DMCA Notice. Should we not get a reply within 10 days minimum and 14 days maximum that indicates that the copyright holder has initiated legal proceedings to stop the purported infringement in response to the DMCA Counter-Notice, BackerKit may, at its own discretion, restore the project or lift any imposed restrictions.

Managing a pledge during a DMCA review

If a project is involved in a DMCA dispute and BackerKit has restricted public access to the project, an email detailing the situation and subsequent steps will be sent to all backers. Any content that potentially violates copyright will be taken down or access will be limited until the issue is resolved, or the DMCA process is completed. During this process, backers will still have the capability to adjust their pledge on the project's page. Since the time until the DMCA process is completed can vary, we recommend contacting the creator directly if you have questions or concerns.

AI-generated content and AI data scrapers

“AI-generated content" refers to images, videos, and text crafted using artificial intelligence tools trained on pre-existing datasets. BackerKit has committed to a policy that restricts the use of AI-generated content in projects on our crowdfunding platform. BackerKit will also automatically exclude all content uploaded by our creators for their projects from AI training.