Takedown

/takedown

Three modes. Pick one:

• /ip-legal:takedown --send — draft a §512(c)(3) takedown notice. Fair-use gate (Lenz) + loud perjury / §512(f) gate before delivery.
• /ip-legal:takedown --respond — triage a takedown someone sent you. Options: comply / counter / engage / ignore.
• /ip-legal:takedown --counter — draft a §512(g)(3) counter-notice. Loud gate for the federal-jurisdiction admission and the perjury statement.

Instructions

1. Read the practice profile. Load ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/ip-legal/CLAUDE.md. If it contains [PLACEHOLDER] markers or does not exist, stop and say: "This plugin needs setup before it can give you useful output. Run /ip-legal:cold-start-interview — the takedown skill depends on your approval matrix and practice profile."

1. Check matter workspaces. Per ## Matter workspaces: if Enabled is ✗, skip. If enabled and there is no active matter, ask: "Which matter is this for? Run /ip-legal:matter-workspace switch <slug> or say practice-level."

1. Dispatch on `$ARGUMENTS`:

• --send → run send mode (below). Walk identify-the-work, identify-the-infringing-material, fair-use gate (Lenz), good-faith belief, accuracy/authority, draft the §512(c)(3) notice, run the loud gate, write output.
• --respond → run respond mode (below). Read the incoming notice, assess (license, fair use, defects, host §512(g) compliance, sender credibility), present the four options, recommend, write the triage memo.
• --counter → run counter mode (below). Confirm the predicate (taken down in response to a §512 notice, good-faith belief of mistake/misidentification, ready for federal-jurisdiction admission, attorney in the loop), draft the §512(g)(3) counter-notice, run the loud gate, write output.
• No flag → ask once: "Are we sending a DMCA takedown, triaging one we received, or drafting a counter-notice?"

1. Respect the gates. In --send and --counter, the loud gate runs before any final output is written. The fair-use gate in --send is separate and runs earlier; "debatable" or "likely" fair use stops the draft and routes to attorney review.

1. Jurisdiction note. DMCA §512 is US federal law. If the service provider, content, or infringer sits outside US jurisdiction, flag before drafting — you may need an EU DSA notice, UK OSA notice, or local-regime instrument instead of (or in addition to) a DMCA notice.

1. Hand off where appropriate. --respond with a counter-notice recommendation chains into /ip-legal:takedown --counter — but only after the triage memo has been reviewed and the decision to counter has been made deliberately.

Examples

/ip-legal:takedown --send
/ip-legal:takedown --respond ~/Downloads/youtube-takedown-notice.pdf
/ip-legal:takedown --counter
/ip-legal:takedown

Notes

• The outgoing notice and counter-notice do not carry the work-product header. Internal drafts, fair-use analyses, and triage memos do.
• §512(c)(3) and §512(g)(3) are element-by-element statutes — every required element must be present or the notice is defective.
• Counter-notices consent to federal court jurisdiction in the claimant's district (or a designated district for non-US subscribers). This is not a formality.
• Non-lawyer users get a one-page brief for the attorney conversation before the gate clears — particularly important for counter-notices, which are the step before litigation.

Purpose

The DMCA §512 notice-and-takedown system is fast, cheap, and consequential in equal measure. A takedown is a sworn statement under penalty of perjury that gets content pulled with no judicial review. A counter-notice is another sworn statement that consents to federal jurisdiction and puts the content back. Both decisions can become litigation. This skill handles all three moves with the guardrails each warrants.

Three modes:

• --send — draft a §512(c)(3) takedown notice
• --respond — triage a takedown someone sent you; produce options
• --counter — draft a §512(g)(3) counter-notice

If the user does not pass a flag, ask once: "Are we sending a DMCA takedown, triaging one we received, or drafting a counter-notice?"

External deliverables (send and counter modes): the outgoing notice/counter-notice goes to the service provider's designated agent. Do NOT include the PRIVILEGED & CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEY WORK PRODUCT header on the outgoing document. The notice itself is not privileged — it's a statement made in a statutory process. Internal drafts, pre-send briefs, fair-use analyses, and triage memos keep the header per plugin config ## Outputs.

Jurisdiction assumption

DMCA §512 is US federal law. It runs against service providers subject to US jurisdiction. Other jurisdictions have their own notice-and-action regimes — EU Digital Services Act Art. 16, UK Online Safety Act, India IT Rules 2021, etc. — that differ materially in required elements, counter-notice mechanics, and liability for misuse. If the service provider, content, or infringer sits outside US jurisdiction, flag it — a US DMCA notice may be the wrong instrument, or may need to be paired with a local regime's notice. Copyright subsistence itself is Berne-multilateral, but enforcement mechanics are jurisdiction-specific.

Load context

• ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/ip-legal/CLAUDE.md → ## IP practice profile (copyright registrations if any), ## Enforcement posture → Approval matrix → DMCA takedown (ordinary) row, ## Outputs (work-product header, role), ## Who's using this (role — lawyer vs. non-lawyer)
• Matter context. Check ## Matter workspaces in the practice-level CLAUDE.md. If Enabled is ✗ (in-house default), skip matter machinery. If enabled and no active matter, ask: "Which matter? Run /ip-legal:matter-workspace switch <slug> or say practice-level." Write outputs to the active matter's folder at ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/ip-legal/matters/<matter-slug>/takedown/<slug>/ (or takedown/<slug>/ at practice level). Never read another matter's files unless Cross-matter context is on.

Send mode — drafting a §512(c)(3) takedown notice

Step 1: Identify the copyrighted work

What is the copyrighted work? - Title / description — what is the work (software, image, text, video, audio)? - Registration status — US Copyright Office registration number and date (if any). Registration is NOT required to send a takedown, but it is required to file suit on a US work and its pre-infringement timing controls statutory damages and fees. - Ownership — do we own it outright, or hold an exclusive license with takedown authority? (Non-exclusive licensees typically cannot send takedowns on the licensor's work.) - Prior licensing — have we ever licensed this use, or a broader use that might cover it?

Ownership and authority are the first things §512(f) cases look at. Get them clearly on the record before drafting.

Step 2: Identify the infringing material and its location

Where is the infringing material? - Platform / service provider — YouTube, Twitter/X, GitHub, Reddit, Amazon, a web host, etc. - URL(s) — specific permalinks to the infringing material. One notice can cover multiple URLs if they're all from the same service. - Description — what is the infringing material and how does it infringe (verbatim copy, substantially similar, derivative)? - Screenshots / evidence — preserved with timestamp and URL visible

§512(c)(3) requires "information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to locate the material." URLs alone are usually enough; be precise.

Step 3: Fair-use gate