DMCA and Copyright Policy

1. Introduction

1.1. Renzue ("Renzue", "the Platform", "we", "us", or "our"), at https://www.renzue.com, is a news and discussion platform. We publish original editorial articles and we host content contributed by users, including comments, community posts, discussion threads, and uploaded files. In this policy, "Content" means everything published or hosted on the Platform, whether created by us or by users. "User Content" means Content submitted by a user or other third party.

1.2. We respect the intellectual property rights of others, and we expect our users to do the same. This policy explains how copyright owners (or their authorised agents) can ask us to remove or disable access to Content they believe infringes their rights, and how users whose Content has been removed can respond.

1.3. Renzue is operated by an India-based individual/MSME, Renzue Media. Our primary legal framework is the law of India. At the same time, the Platform has a global audience, and US copyright owners are entitled to use the notice-and-takedown procedure of the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"), 17 U.S.C. section 512. This policy therefore operates on two tracks: (a) the DMCA track, for complaints under the DMCA procedure; and (b) the Indian law track, for court orders and government notifications under the Information Technology Act, 2000 ("IT Act") and the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 ("IT Rules 2021"), as well as copyright complaints under the Copyright Act, 1957.

2. What Qualifies as Copyright Infringement

2.1. Copyright is a bundle of exclusive rights granted to the creator or rightful owner of an original work. Under the Indian Copyright Act, 1957, copyright subsists in original literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, as well as cinematograph films and sound recordings (section 13). Under US law, copyright subsists in original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression (17 U.S.C. section 102(a)).

2.2. Copyright protects expression, not ideas. Bare facts, news of the day, ideas, and short titles are not protected on their own.

2.5. The law recognises defences including fair dealing in India (section 52 of the Copyright Act, 1957) for criticism, review, and reporting of current events, and fair use in the United States (17 U.S.C. section 107).

3. Filing a DMCA Takedown Notice

3.1. If you believe Content on the Platform infringes your copyright under US law, send a notice containing all six required elements under 17 U.S.C. section 512(c)(3)(A) to our Designated Agent:

1. Physical or electronic signature of the authorised person.
2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed.
3. Exact URLs of the infringing material on renzue.com.
4. Your contact information (name, address, telephone, email).
5. A statement of good-faith belief that the use is unauthorised.
6. A statement made under penalty of perjury that the information is accurate.

4. Complaints Under Indian Law

Under Indian law, three distinct routes apply:

5. Designated Agent & Grievance Officer Details

6. Counter-Notification Procedure

If your Content was removed under a DMCA Notice and you believe it was due to mistake or misidentification (such as fair use or license), you may send a written Counter-Notice under 17 U.S.C. section 512(g) to copyright@renzue.com.

Upon receipt of a valid Counter-Notice, we forward it to the original complainant and restore the material within 10 to 14 business days, unless the complainant notifies us of a filed court action.

7. Repeat-Infringer Policy

We maintain a strict strike system. A user who accumulates three separate upheld copyright infringement strikes within a 12-month period will have their account permanently terminated.