99designs is here to help you buy and sell designs legally. So, as you’d expect, we’re committed to protecting designers’ intellectual property rights, and providing contest holders with designs that they’re legally entitled to use.
We know you value copyright just as much as we do — after all, we’re talking about your rights! — so we’ve put together these guidelines to make sure we all know where we stand.
Reporting Infringements
If you spot a member who has used your content without your permission, please report it by clicking the dropdown menu ‘•••’ in the bottom right then selecting ”Report” from the dropdown menu on the design thumbnail in question and following the instructions from there.
You must not post false, inaccurate, misleading, defamatory, or libelous content in a contest. Alleging an infringement of your copyright directly to a client is defamation, against our rules and will be dealt with appropriately. Please use the report system instead.
99designs does not make judgments about what legally constitutes a “derivative work”. When we receive allegations of copying, our response is solely determined by whether the design is in violation of our site rules.
We’ve established a reputation system that allows users to report other users’ behavior, and originality is a key component of that system. We also have a Designer Support team that holds the community accountable for it’s behavior.
Digital Millennium Copyright Act (USA) and Copyright Act (Australia)
To file a takedown notice under the DMCA — an act that will result in the immediate removal of a contest or entry — you must hold the copyrights to the content in question. That’s the law.
The process is designed to make reporting these alleged infringements easy, while at the same time reducing the number of notices that are fraudulent, malicious, untrue, unsubstantiated or difficult to understand.
How will 99designs respond to these notices? That will depend on each case. We might remove or disable access to the material claimed to be the subject of infringing activity. We may suspend subscribers.
In any case, we’ll try to contact the owner of the affected contest or design so that they have a chance to make a counter-notification. When you agreed to the 99designs terms and conditions, you consented to your contact details being disclosed so the owner may contact you directly.
To file notice of an alleged infringement with 99designs, you’ll need to provide a written communication (by fax—the number’s on the form below—or regular post, mailing it to us at
2201 Broadway
Suite 815
Oakland, CA 94612
that contains the information requested on the Alleged Infringement Notice provided for download below.
Keep in mind that you’ll be liable for damages, including costs and lawyers or attorneys fees, if you materially misrepresent that an activity is infringing your copyright.
Download the Copyright Infringement PDF here: