Templates
Takedown request: the facts to gather
GitHub removes infringing repositories (and their forks) on a valid DMCA notice. Submit it at https://github.com/contact/dmca; GitHub’s form and its guide to submitting a notice are the authority. This page only collects what you will be asked for, so you are not hunting for it under pressure.
[!NOTE] The notice must come from the copyright owner (normally the company) or someone authorised to act for it. Check with legal before sending.
What you will need
| Item | Your answer |
|---|---|
| Copyright owner (company legal name) | |
| Your name, role, and authority to act | |
| Contact email and address | |
| The original work: what it is, where the authoritative copy lives (a private URL is fine; describe it if it cannot be shared) | |
| The infringing repository URL | |
Every fork URL (./scripts/list-forks.sh <owner>/<repo>) |
|
| Is the whole repository infringing, or only some files? | Whole repository / specific paths: |
| Have you contacted the repository owner? When, and what was the reply? | |
| What do you want GitHub to do? | Disable the repository and all listed forks |
Statements GitHub’s notice requires
The form asks you to confirm, in substance:
- you have a good-faith belief that the use is not authorised by the copyright owner, its agent or the law;
- the information in the notice is accurate, and under penalty of perjury you are authorised to act for the owner;
- your full legal name as an electronic signature.
Before you send
- Evidence snapshot taken (
./scripts/snapshot-evidence.sh) - Owner asked to delete it themselves first (fastest), unless that is unsafe
- Legal has approved sending
- Secrets already rotated - a takedown removes the copy, not what was taken from it
After
- GitHub usually acts within days and notifies the repo owner. Track the request ID in the incident timeline.
- Re-run
list-forks.shafter removal to catch forks created in the meantime.