Copyright and Takedown Policy

What VideoCatch hosts

No media. VideoCatch reads the public metadata of a post you paste, works out the address of the video file on the platform's own content delivery network, and hands that address to your browser. The file travels from the platform to you and never passes through this site. There is no upload, no transcode, no mirror and no archive.

The one thing kept is a copy of a post's public metadata, meaning the caption, the thumbnail address and the list of file sizes, held for one hour so that repeat lookups of the same post do not hammer the source platform. It expires on its own and holds no media.

The practical consequence for a rights holder is that taking a video down at the source removes it here as well, within the hour, with no action needed from us. What we can do is refuse to resolve a specific post or a specific account, and that is what a notice gets you.

How to file a notice

Write to hello@videocatch.org with "Takedown" in the subject line. A notice needs six things, and a notice missing any of them will be answered with a request for it rather than acted on:

1. The VideoCatch address involved, meaning the tool page and the post link you pasted into it. 2. The address of the post on the source platform, so the work can be found. 3. An identification of the work you own, with a link to the original where one exists. 4. Your name, postal address, email address and telephone number. 5. A statement that you believe in good faith that the use is not authorised by the rights holder, its agent, or the law. 6. A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information is accurate and that you are the rights holder or are authorised to act for them, together with your physical or electronic signature.

Agents acting for a rights holder should say whom they act for. A notice covering many works at once is fine; list them.

What happens when we receive one

You get an acknowledgement within five business days, and a decision in the same reply where the notice is complete and the claim is clear. Where a notice is incomplete we say which of the six elements is missing.

Acting on a valid notice means adding the post, and where the pattern warrants it the account, to a block list the extractors consult before making any request. A blocked link returns a plain message saying the content is unavailable. Since no media is stored, there is nothing else to delete.

We keep a record of every notice received and every action taken, including the date and the outcome, for our own accountability and to identify repeat infringement.

Counter-notice

If your post was blocked and you believe the notice was mistaken or misidentified it, write to the same address with "Counter-notice" in the subject line. Include the blocked link, your name and contact details, a statement under penalty of perjury that you believe in good faith the block resulted from a mistake or misidentification, and your consent to the jurisdiction of a court where you live.

We forward a valid counter-notice to the person who sent the original notice. If they do not tell us within ten business days that they have started court proceedings, the block is lifted.

Repeat infringers

There are no accounts on VideoCatch, so there is nobody to suspend. What repeats can be acted on is the source: an account on a platform that is the subject of repeated valid notices is blocked at the account level rather than post by post, so that its links stop resolving here altogether.

That decision is ours to make and we make it on the record of notices, not on volume of complaint.

Misrepresentation

Under section 512(f) of the DMCA, knowingly misrepresenting that material is infringing, or that it was blocked by mistake, carries liability for damages and costs to the other side. Comparable provisions exist elsewhere. Send a notice only for work you own or are authorised to act for.

Questions about this policy, and anything else, go to hello@videocatch.org.