Copyright and Trademark Policy

Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"), WhereWeChat addresses copyright complaints. The DMCA's Section 512 describes the legal procedures for formally reporting copyright infringement and tells the affected party how to appeal a removal by filing a timely and compliant counter-notice.

Reports of purported copyright infringement, such as those involving the unapproved sale and distribution of content protected by copyright, or claims involving the unapproved use of a video or image uploaded via WhereWeChat's media hosting services, will be addressed by WhereWeChat. It should be noted that not all unapproved uses of copyrighted content constitute infringements (for additional information, check here, here, and here).

If you are unsure whether you hold rights to a particular work, please consult an attorney or another adviser as Selar cannot provide legal advice. There are plenty of resources to learn more about copyright law including http://copyright.gov, and http://www.eff.org/issues/bloggers/legal/liability/IP , to name a few.

WhereWeChat is unable to offer legal advice: so, if you are unclear about whether you are the owner of rights to a certain work; please speak with a lawyer or other advisor. To learn more about copyright law, there are many resources available, such as http://copyright.gov and http://www.eff.org/issues/bloggers/legal/liability/IP, and lots more. 

Please think about whether the use qualifies as fair use before filing a copyright complaint with us.

Please be advised that under 17 U.S.C. § 512(f), you may be liable for any damages, including expenses and attorneys' fees, incurred by us or our users if you intentionally and materially misrepresent that any content or behavior is infringing, before filing a formal complaint with WhereWeChat. Before submitting a notification with us, you might need to speak with an attorney if you are not sure if the content you are reporting is indeed infringing.

Note: Please contact an attorney or other counsel if you're not sure if you own the copyrights to a work or if you're infringement on someone else's intellectual property.

You must give us the following details in order to file a notification of alleged copyright infringement:

1. A signature, either in person or electronically (typing your entire name will do) from the owner of the copyright or an authorized representative
   The specific copyrighted work that is purportedly being infringed upon must be identified (for example, by providing a link to your original work or a detailed description of the elements in question).
2. Identification of the illegal content and details sufficiently detailed to enable WhereWeChat to find the content on our website or services.
3. Your address, phone number, and email address are among your contact details.
4. A declaration expressing your sincere view that you are the copyright owner, its agent, or the law does not permit the use of the content in the manner claimed.
5. A declaration that the data in the complaint is true and that you are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner under penalty of perjury

You can report alleged copyright infringement by sending an email to copyright@wherewechat.com or contact us here

Please be aware that duplicate copyright complaints will cause processing delays. We handle copyright complaints in the order that they are received. After you send an email, we will confirm it to you via email. If you do not receive a confirmation, your complaint was not received and you should resubmit it.

If we remove or disable access to the materials reported in a copyright complaint, the reported user(s) will receive a copy of the complaint,.

In response to copyright concerns, WhereWeChat might remove or restrict access to the content that is allegedly infringing. Assume that in response to a copyright complaint, we delete or limit access to user content. If such is the case, WhereWeChat will attempt in good faith to get in touch with the account holder in question and provide details about the removal or restriction of access, a complete copy of the complaint, and guidelines for submitting a counter-notice.

Please reply to the support email we sent you if you haven't yet gotten a copy of the copyright complaint regarding the content that was taken from your account.

We distinctly label flagged or taken down content to let viewers know when content has been withheld in an effort to be as open and honest as possible about the removal or limitation of access to creator-posted content (examples below)

If you get a copyright complaint, it indicates that there are restrictions on access to the material it describes. We hope you will take the time to review the mail we sent you, which contains details about the complaint we received and directions on how to submit a counter-notice. Please make sure you are keeping an eye on the email address linked to your WhereWeChat account.

Tip: Removing the material reported in a copyright complaint will also resolve that complaint.

If you believe that the materials reported in the copyright complaints were misidentified or removed in error, you may reach out to us via our contact us form here by replying to the notice received. A counter-notice is a request for WhereWeChat to reinstate the removed material.

Tip: Removing the material reported in a copyright complaint will also resolve that complaint.

A counter-notice is the first step in a legal procedure that could have legal repercussions and is a request to WhereWeChat to restore the removed content. For instance, filing a counternotice signifies your agreement to the reporter's access to your personal information and your acceptance of the jurisdiction of Nigeria and U.S. Federal court.

Keeping these things in mind, if you think this item was misidentified or you have a good faith conviction that it shouldn't have been taken, you can file a counter-notice. You might wish to speak with an attorney if you're not sure if you should submit a counter-notice.

Tip: Re-posting material removed in response to a copyright complaint may result in permanent account suspension. If you believe the content was removed in error, please file a counter-notice rather than re-posting the material.

To submit a counter-notice, you will need to provide us with the following information:

1. A physical or electronic signature (typing your full name will suffice)
2. Your full name, address (including country), telephone number, and for verification purposes, your WhereWeChat username and associated email
3. Identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled, and the location at which the material appeared before that removal or disabling (the description from the copyright notice will suffice)
4. A statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled and
5. One of the following jurisdictional consent statements:

(If your address is in the United States)

“I consent to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court for the judicial district in which my address is located and I’ll accept service of process from the person who provided notice under 17 U.S.C. 512 (c)(1)(C) or an agent of such person.”

OR

(If your address is outside of the United States)

"I consent to any judicial district in which WhereWeChat may be found, and I’ll accept service of process from the person who provided notice under 17 U.S.C. 512 (c)(1)(C) or an agent of such person."

To submit a counter-notice, please provide all of the above information by sending an email to copyright@wherewechat.com or ccontact us here

We shall send a copy of any legitimate counter-notice to the original notice filer as soon as we receive it. This implies that the individual who filed the initial notice will receive the contact details you include in your counter-notice.

The copyright holder may take legal action against you if they don't agree that the content was removed accidentally or without permission. We reserve the right to reinstall the removed content or to stop blocking access to it if we do not hear from the original reporter within ten (10) business days regarding their request for a court injunction to stop future infringement of the material in question.

We cannot offer any legal advice. Should you have questions, please consult an attorney.

Please think twice before submitting a claim or counter-notice, especially if you are unsure whether you are the actual rights holder or authorized to act on a rights holder’s behalf. There are legal and financial consequences for fraudulent and/or bad faith submissions. Please be sure that you are the actual rights holder, or that you have a good faith belief that the material was removed in error, and that you understand the repercussions of submitting a false claim.

WhereWeChat may block an account in compliance with our Repeat Infringer Policy here, if we receive repeated copyright complaints against that account, or if further evidence points to a pattern of repeated infringement. We consider legitimate retractions and counter-notices in our Repeat Infringer Policy here. Furthermore, you risk having your account permanently closed if you repost content that has already been taken down in response to a copyright complaint, provide links to content that is protected by copyright on other people's websites or services, or take any other actions that show your account is used primarily or exclusively to violate the intellectual property rights of others.

WhereWeChat strictly prohibits the sale of or promoting the sale of counterfeit goods on her platform.

Products, including digital goods, that are advertised, sold, or otherwise distributed without permission from the owner of a trademark or brand and that are substantially similar to or identical to another person's registered trademark or brand are considered counterfeit goods. Products that are counterfeit make an effort to trick customers into thinking they are authentic products from the brand owner or that they are imitations, falsifications, or false versions of the original product.

WhereWeChat trademark policy applies to uses of trademarks that may mislead or confuse others about one’s brand affiliation, other than sale or promotion of counterfeit goods. WhereWeChat counterfeit policy applies to the sale or promotion of counterfeit goods.

Selling or promoting counterfeit goods on the platform is a violation of WhereWeChat counterfeit policy. WhereWeChat counterfeit policy prohibits but is not limited to:

• Non-genuine products that attempt to pass themselves off as genuine products of the trademark or brand owner.
• Products described as faux, replicas, or imitations, etc., using a trademark or brand name, without authorization of the trademark or brand owner.
• The offer, promotion, sale, or facilitation of unauthorized access to content, including digital goods.

We review each report and do the following: 

• If we determine that there is a violation of our counterfeit policy, we may deactivate the account or disable access to the material.

• Content which provides news, information, or commentary about goods or services is not a violation of this counterfeit goods policy.
• Promotion or sale, including resale, of genuine branded goods, may not be a violation.
• The use of trademarked materials in a misleading way that does not involve the sale or promotion of counterfeit goods would not be a violation of this counterfeit policy, but may be a violation of our trademark policy.

If you are concerned about an account violating WhereWeChat counterfeit policy, please send us an email on copyright@wherewechat.com or click here to Contact Us

If we determine that you violated our counterfeit policy, we may deactivate your account.

Using another’s trademark in a way that may mislead or confuse people about your affiliation may be a violation of our trademark policy.

Referencing another’s trademark is not automatically a violation of WhereWeChat trademark policy. Examples of non-violations include:

• Using a trademark in a way that is outside the scope of the trademark registration e.g., in a different territory, or a different class of goods or services than that identified in the registration and.
• Using a trademark in a nominative or other fair use manner.

WhereWeChat only investigates requests that are submitted by the trademark holder or their authorized representative e.g., a legal representative or other representative for a brand.

You can submit a trademark report by sending us an email to copyright@wherewechat.com or Contact Us

Note: We may provide the account holder with your name and other information included in the copy of the report.