DCMA Policy
Copyright and Intellectual Property Policy
NOTICE AND PROCEDURE FOR FILING CLAIM OF COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
The Thomas Group NW RE LLC respects intellectual property laws (including the federal Digital Millennium Copyright Act, aka DMCA) and the rights of others, and will respond to written notifications of alleged infringement by copyright owners, or their authorized agent, according to this copyright policy.
• If you believe your work has been reproduced in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, you may notify us by submitting a written communication to our Copyright Agent and providing the information listed below: The full legal name of the copyright owner and the physical or electronic signature of the person legally authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the infringed copyright (and if you are not the copyright owner, a description of your relationship to the copyright owner).
• A description of the copyrighted work or works for which copyright infringement is claimed, including a detailed description of the infringing material and where the material is located on our website, such as a URL.
• A signed statement that: the above information is accurate, and that you have a good faith belief that the use of the material as described is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and, under penalty of perjury, that you are the copyright owner or are authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf in this matter.
• Your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address, so that our Copyright Agent may contact you about your complaint.
By submitting an infringement notification, you are initiating a legal process. Filing false claims, or other misuse of this process, can result in substantial penalties, according to Section 512(f) of the DMCA, including damages and attorneys’ fees.
RESPONSE TO NOTIFICATIONS
Once notified in writing, The Thomas Group NW RE LLC will act quickly to remove or disable access to potentially infringing material hosted on our websites. (The Thomas Group NW RE LLC does not have control over content residing on any third party sites, and cannot remove content from any website not under our direct control.)
We will also alert the person or entity that submitted the allegedly infringing material, and provide them with a copy of the infringement notification. The Thomas Group NW RE LLC reserves the right to suspend or terminate access to The Thomas Group NW RE LLC for persons who repeatedly or blatantly infringe the copyrights of others.
COUNTER CLAIMS
If a notice of copyright infringement has been wrongly filed against you, or if you believe your content was removed or disabled by mistake or misidentification, you may submit a counter notification to our Copyright Agent. To be valid, a counter notification must be in writing and must include the following elements:
1. The full name, address, phone number and email address of the counter-claimant, our counter-claimant’s agent, and a physical or electronic signature.
2. Identification of the material that has been removed, or to which access has been disabled, and the location (such as a URL) at which the material appeared before it was removed or access was disabled.
3. A statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of an error or misidentification.
4. A statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of U.S. Federal District Court for the judicial district in which your address is located or, if your address is outside of the U.S., for U.S. Federal District Court for the Northern District of California located in San Francisco, CA); and that you will accept service of process from the original complainant.
Upon receipt of a valid written counter notification, The Thomas Group NW RE LLC will provide the original claimant with a copy of the counter claim. After 10 business days following receipt of the counter notification, the DMCA allows The Thomas Group NW RE LLC to restore the removed material, providing the original claimant does not file a court order to restrain the use of the infringing material.
Before submitting a counter-claim, be sure you are the legal rights holder of the removed content or that you have a good faith belief that the material was removed in error, and understand the consequences of submitting a false claim.
Notices related to all copyright issues should be sent:
By Mail
The Thomas Group NW RE LLC
28128 239th Ave SE
Maple Valley, WA 98038
Attention: Lori PatchA
By Email
Notice of copyright infringement by e-mail may allow our Copyright Agent to begin investigating the alleged infringement; however, The Thomas Group NW RE LLC must receive your signed statement, as described above, by mail or as an attachment to your e-mail before we are required to take action. The above information should not be construed as legal advice. If you’re not sure whether the use of the material in questions infringes your copyright, consider contacting an attorney before filing a notification or counter-notification.
For further information about the DMCA, please visit the website of the United States Copyright Office at: http://www.copyright.gov/onlinesp.
In addition to the above, The Thomas Group NW RE LLC always reserves the right to remove any content without prior notice and at our sole discretion.