Copyright & DMCA Policy

Last updated: 5 October 2026

Cerge Media respects the intellectual property of writers, photographers, artists, software developers and everyone else whose work makes the internet worth reading. We expect the same respect for our own work. This policy explains how we approach copyright, how to tell us if you believe something on cergemedia.com infringes your rights, and what happens next.

We are a UK publication and UK copyright law applies to our website. Because many rights holders, and many of the platforms we use, are based in the United States, we also accept notices in the format set out in the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). You can use either route. What matters to us is that we receive enough information to investigate properly.

Our approach to copyright

Our articles are written by our own team and by contributors who confirm that their work is original. We do not republish other publications’ articles. When we refer to someone else’s reporting or research, we summarise it in our own words and link to the original source.

We quote directly only where the exact wording matters, and we keep quotations short and attributed. In the UK, the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA) allows fair dealing with a work for the purposes of criticism, review, quotation and reporting current events, provided there is sufficient acknowledgement. We rely on these exceptions carefully and in good faith, and we’ll always listen if a rights holder believes we’ve gone too far.

How we use images

Images are where copyright problems most often arise for online publishers, so we have clear rules for them.

• Free-licensed photos. Most images on our site come from Wikimedia Commons. We use images from Wikimedia Commons only where the file is in the public domain or released under a free licence such as CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, and we follow the terms of that licence.
• Credits. Where we use a free-licensed image, we credit the photographer or creator and the licence, normally in the image caption, along with the source (for example “Photo: [name], CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons”). Where a licence requires a link to the licence text or notice of changes, we provide it.
• Press images. We sometimes use images supplied by companies or organisations for editorial use in connection with news about them, and we credit them accordingly.
• Screenshots. We may use screenshots of software, websites or apps where this is necessary to review or report on them.
• What we avoid. We don’t take images from search engines, social media or other publications without permission. We don’t use photos of private individuals in a way that could embarrass or harm them.

Licence information on image hosting sites is sometimes wrong. A file may have been uploaded by someone who didn’t own it. If you are the creator of an image we’ve used and believe it was published without your permission, or that we’ve credited it incorrectly, please tell us. We will look into it promptly, and if we got it wrong we will remove the image or fix the credit.

Reporting an infringement under UK law

If you believe that material on our website infringes your copyright under UK law, please email [email protected] with the subject line “Copyright notice”. Please include the information listed in the next section. We will treat a notice containing that information as a valid complaint whichever legal framework you are relying on.

How to send a DMCA takedown notice

Under 17 U.S.C. §512(c)(3), a notice of claimed infringement must be a written communication that includes substantially the following:

1. A physical or electronic signature of a person authorised to act on behalf of the owner of the exclusive right that is allegedly infringed. Typing your full legal name at the end of an email is generally accepted as an electronic signature.
2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed or, if multiple works are covered by a single notice, a representative list of those works. A link to where the original work appears, or a description of it, is very helpful.
3. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing and that you want removed or disabled, with enough information for us to locate it. Please give the full URL of each page on cergemedia.com and, for images, describe which image you mean.
4. Your contact information, such as your name, postal address, telephone number and email address, so that we can contact you.
5. A statement that you have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorised by the copyright owner, its agent or the law.
6. A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and, under penalty of perjury, that you are authorised to act on behalf of the owner of the exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Please send your notice to [email protected] with “DMCA notice” in the subject line.

Notices that do not substantially meet these requirements may not be actionable, though we will usually try to contact you to ask for the missing details. Please be aware that under 17 U.S.C. §512(f), a person who knowingly and materially misrepresents that material is infringing may be liable for damages. If you are not sure whether something infringes your rights, for example because it may be covered by fair dealing or fair use, you may wish to take legal advice before sending a notice.

What happens after we receive a notice

When we receive a complete notice, we will:

• acknowledge receipt, normally within 2–3 working days;
• review the material and the claim;
• remove or disable access to the material promptly if the claim appears valid, or contact you if we need more information or believe the use is lawful;
• where the material was provided by a contributor or a commenter, make reasonable efforts to let them know it has been removed and give them the opportunity to respond.

Where content is our own editorial work and we believe our use is lawful, for example a short quotation used for news reporting or review, we will explain our reasons to you. We are always open to discussion, and in many cases a corrected credit or link resolves the matter.

Counter-notices

If material you provided to us, such as a contributed article, an image or a comment, has been removed following a takedown notice and you believe this was a mistake or a misidentification, you can send us a counter-notice. Under 17 U.S.C. §512(g)(3), a counter-notice must include substantially the following:

1. Your physical or electronic signature.
2. Identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled, and the location at which it appeared before it was removed.
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 mistake or misidentification.
4. Your name, address and telephone number, and a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the US Federal District Court for the judicial district in which your address is located or, if your address is outside the United States, for any judicial district in which the service provider may be found, and that you will accept service of process from the person who provided the original notice or their agent.

Send counter-notices to [email protected] with “DMCA counter-notice” in the subject line.

If we receive a valid counter-notice, we will forward a copy to the person who sent the original notice. Under the DMCA, we may restore the material not less than 10 and not more than 14 business days after receiving the counter-notice, unless the original complainant tells us they have started legal action seeking a court order to restrain the alleged infringement. As a UK publication, we also reserve the right to make our own decision about whether to restore material, taking into account UK law and our editorial standards.

Repeat infringers

We will, in appropriate circumstances, end the participation of contributors, commenters or account holders who are found to have repeatedly infringed others’ copyright. This may include banning them from commenting, ending a contributor relationship or closing a customer account. We also reserve the right to remove any content we believe to be infringing, whether or not we have received a formal notice.

Contributors and commenters

Anyone who writes for us confirms that their work is original and that they have the right to any images or other material they supply. Our Write for Us guidelines explain this in more detail. People who comment on the site agree not to post material that infringes anyone’s rights, as set out in our Terms and Conditions.

Using Cerge Media’s content

Our articles are protected by copyright. You’re welcome to share links to our work and to quote short extracts with clear attribution and a link to the original article. Please don’t republish full articles, or substantial parts of them, without our written permission. If you’d like to syndicate or reuse our content, email us and we’ll be happy to talk.

Note that images on our site that come from third parties remain the property of their creators. If you want to reuse one, please go to the original source and follow the licence terms there.

If you find our content copied elsewhere without permission, we’d appreciate you letting us know.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top of the page shows when it was last revised.

Contact

All copyright notices, counter-notices and questions about this policy should be sent to Cerge Media, London, United Kingdom, at [email protected].