Someone filed a DMCA counter-notice: what happens next?

A counter-notice is the uploader's answer to your takedown: a sworn statement that the material was removed by mistake or misidentification. Our page on internet law and online takedowns describes the decision it forces. This page covers the clock, what a valid counter-notice must contain, and what you need in hand, starting with a copyright registration, if you decide to sue. If you have not sent a notice yet, start with our guide to what a DMCA takedown notice must include.

What happens after a counter-notice, step by step

1. The uploader sends the counter-notice. It goes in writing to the platform's designated agent and must include the four items in 17 U.S.C. 512(g)(3).
2. The platform forwards it to you. It must promptly send you a copy and tell you it will replace the material or stop disabling access in 10 business days (512(g)(2)(B)).
3. You check it. Read whether it is complete, what it claims, and who signed it.
4. You decide. Let the material return, negotiate, or file suit.
5. If you sue, registration comes first. No civil action for infringement of a U.S. work may be filed until registration has been made, or refused (17 U.S.C. 411(a)).
6. You file in federal court. Federal district courts hear copyright cases, and no state court has jurisdiction over copyright claims (28 U.S.C. 1338(a)). The action must seek a court order to restrain the uploader, the kind of injunction 17 U.S.C. 502(a) allows.
7. You tell the platform's agent you filed. If its designated agent receives that notice first, the material stays down. If not, the platform restores it between business day 10 and business day 14 (512(g)(2)(C)), and restoring it does not make the platform liable for infringement (512(g)(4)).

What must a valid counter-notice contain?

"To be effective," a counter-notice must be a written communication to the platform's designated agent that includes substantially the following (512(g)(3)). Compare what you received against this list before you plan anything else.

That fourth item matters more than it looks. A counter-notice gives you a name, an address, a consent to a specific federal court and an agreement to accept service, which is often the information an owner would otherwise need a subpoena to get. Our page on identifying an anonymous infringer explains that route for cases where no counter-notice arrives.

A counter-notice is also a sworn statement with consequences. Anyone who knowingly materially misrepresents that material was removed by mistake or misidentification is liable for the damages, costs and attorneys' fees that result (512(f)(2)). Those misrepresentation claims can be brought in federal court or before the Copyright Claims Board, where total recovery in a proceeding is capped at $30,000 (17 U.S.C. 1504(c)(3) and (e)(1)(D)).

How do you count the 10 to 14 business days?

The clock runs from the platform's receipt of the counter-notice, not from the day you open the forwarded copy (512(g)(2)(C)). Section 512 does not define "business days," so count conservatively: skip weekends and the legal public holidays listed in 5 U.S.C. 6103(a), and ask the platform to confirm the date it received the counter-notice.

In this example, Columbus Day (the second Monday in October, October 12) falls just before the window and Veterans Day (November 11) just after it. Because restoration can come as early as day 10, treat day 9 as your real deadline for getting proof of filing to the designated agent.

Should you sue or let the material go back up?

The statute gives you only two outcomes inside the window: a lawsuit that keeps the material down, or restoration. The Copyright Office's May 2020 Section 512 report called the period "too short for a rightsholder to realistically prepare and file a federal lawsuit," noting that an attorney must investigate a claim before filing under Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. That is why the decision is easier if you made it before you sent the takedown.

If you let the material return, the claim itself does not end. Restoration protects the platform, not the uploader, and a civil copyright action generally must be brought within three years after the claim accrued (17 U.S.C. 507(b)). A firm demand may still resolve it, as our post on cease and desist letters explains. Our page on copyright infringement damages shows what a later case could recover.

Be careful with the Copyright Claims Board as a substitute here. The statutory exception covers an action seeking a court order to restrain the uploader, and the Board includes a requirement to stop only when a party agrees to stop (1504(e)(2)). Do not count on a Board claim to keep the material down. If you do file suit, our page on what happens in a copyright lawsuit in Atlanta federal court walks through service, deadlines and early injunction requests.

What if your work is not registered yet?

This is the most common reason owners run out of time. In Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC, 586 U.S. 296 (2019), the Supreme Court held that registration occurs, and a suit may begin, when the Copyright Office registers the copyright, not when you apply. Once registered, an owner can recover for infringement before and after registration.

Ordinary processing will not fit the window: for claims closed October 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026, the Office reports an average of 4.1 months for all claims. Special handling exists for pending or prospective litigation. It costs $800 per claim on top of the filing fee, is nonrefundable, and needs a signed statement of why you need it, whether the litigation is actual or prospective, whether you are the plaintiff or defendant, and the parties and court. Once approved, the Office makes every effort to finish examination within five working days, but it cannot guarantee that (Circular 10).

If the Office refuses registration after receiving a proper application, deposit and fee, you can still sue, provided you serve notice and a copy of the complaint on the Register of Copyrights (411(a)). Our page on copyright registration cost and processing time compares the filing options in more detail.

What changes the answer

• An incomplete counter-notice. Section 512(g)(3) lists what a counter-notice must include "to be effective." Raise a missing item with the platform in writing right away.
• An uploader outside the United States. The consent then covers any federal district where the platform may be found (512(g)(3)(D)).
• Who owns the right. The legal or beneficial owner of an exclusive right may sue, subject to the registration rule (17 U.S.C. 501(b)); our page on whether an exclusive licensee can sue an infringer covers licensees.
• What was taken down. The counter-notice timeline in 512(g)(2) applies to material stored at a user's direction and removed under a notice to a hosting platform.
• An uploader who keeps reposting. Platforms must reasonably implement a policy to terminate repeat infringers in appropriate circumstances (512(i)(1)(A)), covered on our page about repeat infringer policies.
• Holidays. A legal public holiday under 5 U.S.C. 6103(a) inside the window pushes the count out a day.

A worked example

Common mistakes

• Counting calendar days, or counting from the wrong day. The statute counts business days following the platform's receipt.
• Waiting to decide before starting registration. Special handling takes days even when it goes well, so start it as soon as suit is possible.
• Filing in state court. Under 28 U.S.C. 1338(a), state courts have no jurisdiction over copyright claims.
• Filing suit but not telling the platform. The material stays down only if the designated agent receives notice of the action first.
• Treating a letter or a Board claim as a stop. Neither is the court action the exception describes.
• Ignoring what the counter-notice says. A license or fair use argument in it has to be investigated before a complaint is filed.

What to do this week

1. Ask the platform for the date its agent received the counter-notice, then write out the business-day calendar.
2. Save the counter-notice and check it against the four required items.
3. Search the Copyright Public Records System for your registration; if there is none and suit is possible, apply with special handling now.
4. Gather proof of ownership, the copying, and the commercial harm.
5. Set your own decision date a few business days before day 10.
6. If you decide to sue, line up the complaint and the notice to the designated agent so both go out the same day.

Frequently asked questions

Does a counter-notice mean the uploader is right?

No. It is a sworn statement of the uploader's good faith belief, not a ruling. Restoration settles nothing about infringement; it only protects the platform.

Can the platform restore the material before 10 business days?

The statute ties the platform's protection to restoring "not less than 10, nor more than 14, business days" after receipt (512(g)(2)(C)). A platform relying on that protection waits at least 10 business days.

Can you sue over a false counter-notice?

Yes, if the uploader knowingly and materially misrepresented that the removal was a mistake or misidentification (512(f)(2)). You would need to show the damages that resulted from the platform relying on it.

Do you have to sue in the district named in the counter-notice?

The counter-notice is the uploader's consent to that district, which can matter if the uploader later questions that court's power over them. Where else a case may be filed depends on federal venue rules and the facts, so plan the court before you file.

What if you are the one who filed a counter-notice and now got a demand letter?

You agreed to accept service and consented to a federal court, so take it seriously. Our page on what to do after a copyright infringement letter covers your response options.

What does the lawsuit have to ask for?

The exception covers "an action seeking a court order to restrain the subscriber from engaging in infringing activity relating to the material" on the platform (512(g)(2)(C)). A complaint that asks only for money may not fit that description, so the request for an injunction belongs in it.

Zala IP Law helps copyright owners decide what to do when a takedown is challenged, from checking the counter-notice to preparing for federal court, and Shreepal J. Zala practices federal intellectual property law nationally. If a counter-notice has started the clock, request a consultation or call 404-313-1701 as early in the window as you can.