PLOTLIGHTLegal

Legal

DMCA Policy

Plotlight Studios — plotlightstudios.com

Plotlight Studios DMCA Policy

Effective Date: April 14, 2026

Last Updated: April 14, 2026

RoleCall Studios LLC ("Plotlight," "we," "us") respects the intellectual property rights of others and expects our users to do the same. This policy describes how we handle claims of copyright infringement under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. Section 512).

1. Designated Agent

Copyright Agent, RoleCall Studios LLC

  • Email: boxoffice@rolecallstudios.com
  • Mailing address and phone number: [To be published upon Copyright Office registration]

2. Filing a DMCA Takedown Notice

If you believe that content hosted on Plotlight infringes your copyright, you may submit a written takedown notice to our designated agent. Your notice must include all of the following elements as required by 17 U.S.C. Section 512(c)(3):

  1. A physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner.
  2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to be infringed.
  3. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate it (for example: URL, page slug, character name, or other identifying details).
  4. Your contact information, including your name, address, telephone number, and email address.
  5. 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.
  6. A statement, made under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner.

Notices that do not comply with these requirements may not receive a response.

3. What Happens After a Valid Notice

Upon receiving a valid DMCA takedown notice, we will:

  • Review and act expeditiously, typically within 48 hours.
  • Remove or disable access to the infringing material.
  • Notify the account holder of the takedown and the reason for it.

Regarding forks: A takedown applies only to the specific content identified in the notice. Forks of that content are not automatically removed. If you believe that forks also contain infringing material, you must identify each one separately in your notice.

4. Counter-Notice

If you believe your content was removed by mistake or misidentification, you may file a counter-notice with our designated agent. Your counter-notice must include all of the following elements as required by 17 U.S.C. Section 512(g)(3):

  1. Your physical or electronic signature.
  2. Identification of the material that was removed and the location where it appeared before removal.
  3. A statement, made 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.
  5. 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 the service provider may be found.
  6. A statement that you will accept service of process from the person who filed the original takedown notice or an agent of that person.

Upon receiving a valid counter-notice, we will forward it to the original complainant. If the complainant does not file a court action seeking to restrain the allegedly infringing activity within 10 to 14 business days, we will restore the removed material.

5. Repeat Infringers

Plotlight maintains and enforces a repeat infringer policy. Accounts that receive two or more valid DMCA strikes may be terminated. We track all notices on a per-account basis for enforcement purposes.

6. Misuse and Bad Faith

Filing a false DMCA takedown notice or counter-notice constitutes perjury under 17 U.S.C. Section 512(f). Knowingly misrepresenting that material is infringing, or that it was removed by mistake, may result in liability for damages, including costs and attorney's fees incurred by the affected party.

We take DMCA abuse seriously. If we determine that a notice was filed in bad faith or to harass a creator, we may take action against the filer.

7. Fan Content and Transformative Works

Plotlight hosts fan-created character cards that reference existing fictional works such as anime, games, books, and other media. We believe that fan-created character cards are transformative works — they represent a creator's original interpretation of a character, not a reproduction of the source material.

The U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that transformative works "lie at the heart of the fair use doctrine's guarantee of breathing space" (Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, 510 U.S. 569, 1994).

We reserve the right to independently review DMCA notices and evaluate whether the noticed content constitutes fair use before taking action. We do not auto-comply with takedown notices. Rights holders are reminded that under Lenz v. Universal Music Corp. (801 F.3d 1126, 9th Cir. 2015), they must consider fair use in good faith before sending a DMCA notice.

That said, copyright law does protect specific creative expression:

  • Takedown notices for specific copyrighted artwork (for example, an illustration used without the artist's permission) are valid and will be honored.
  • Character names, general concepts, and ideas are not copyrightable expression.
  • Fan-written descriptions, scenarios, and dialogue that interpret existing characters in new ways are the creator's own expression.

8. Internal Procedures

When Plotlight staff become aware of apparently infringing content through any means, not limited to formal DMCA notices, we will act to address it. We do not proactively scan user content for infringement but will act on actual knowledge.

9. Contact

All DMCA inquiries should be directed to:

Email: boxoffice@rolecallstudios.com

— End of DMCA Policy —