Enforcement Support

Section 01

What enforcement support covers

Enforcement support begins where review ends. By the time a matter reaches this stage, the occurrence has been captured with its page URL, image URL, date and time, full-page screenshot and SHA-256 fingerprints, and the use has been checked for signs of a licence. Uses that appear covered have already been closed, and plausible licences have been met with a request for the licence record rather than a claim. What remains is a use for which no permission has been shown.

From that point, Atlantic manages the steps that turn a documented finding into a resolved matter: correspondence with the website operator, the secure case portal, complaints to the hosting provider, notifications to search engines and advertising networks, and a record of every exchange. Each step is chosen for the situation at hand. A small blog that answers the first letter is not handled like a commercial site that has ignored five.

Proportion is not only a question of tone. It means sending each document to the party that can actually act on it, setting dated deadlines that can reasonably be met, stopping when the other party engages, and withdrawing notices once the matter is settled. A file built this way is easier for a host to process, harder for the other side to dismiss and, if it ever reaches counsel, already in order.

Section 02

Graduated correspondence with the website operator

The first party contacted is the operator of the website that displays the image. The operator is generally the party that published it, and the one able to obtain a licence for it or take it down. Correspondence follows a graduated series of up to seven letters, from a first notice to a final pre-contentious warning. Each letter states a dated deadline and is accompanied by an evidence PDF summarising the occurrence.

Every letter carries the Case File reference, in the form AID-YYYY-NNNNN, and refers to the authority certificate issued for the rights holder’s mandate. The certificate has a public verification address, so the recipient can confirm that Atlantic acts on instructions without having to take its word for it.

• The first notice identifies the image, the page, the date of capture and the rights holder, and invites the operator to show a licence or to resolve the matter.
• Later letters refer back to the earlier ones, keep the same facts and add only what has changed.
• The final pre-contentious warning states plainly that the file may be referred to counsel if no answer is received by the stated date.

The letters do not harden their language to make up for silence. The facts are the same in the first letter and the last; only the stage changes. A proposed licence fee or settlement is presented as a proposal, not as a sum already owed, and no letter presents Atlantic’s position as if it were the decision of a court.

Section 03

The secure case portal

Each recipient receives access to a secure case portal linked to its Case File. The portal shows the evidence summary for the occurrence concerned, so the operator can see what was captured and when, instead of relying on a description in a letter.

From the portal, the recipient can reply in writing, upload a licence, an invoice or any other proof of permission, ask for time, or settle. Replies sent by e-mail are filed in the same Case File, so nothing depends on the channel the recipient prefers. Every document received and every action taken is added, with its date, to the chain-of-custody record.

The portal serves both sides. A recipient who holds a valid licence can show it quickly and have the matter closed. A recipient who does not can examine the evidence in full and decide on an informed basis. For the rights holder, every answer, document and payment is recorded in one place.

Section 04

Holds and how objections are answered

When the other party engages, Atlantic stops. A reply, a licence claim or a request for time places the matter on hold until a stated date, and nothing is sent during the hold. The date is communicated, so both sides know when the matter will be looked at again. A licence claim is examined on the document produced, and a request for time is not treated as an admission.

Objections are answered on their merits, briefly and in writing. The most frequent ones have accurate answers:

• “I found it on Google” or “it was on a free site”: a search engine or a wallpaper site does not grant rights in the images it shows.
• “I credited the photographer”: a credit is not a licence, even though it may be relevant context.
• “I removed it”: removal ends the ongoing use, which is welcome, but it does not erase the use already made.
• “My web designer chose it”: responsibility for content selected by a contractor depends on the jurisdiction, but the operator is generally the party that published it; any arrangement with the contractor is a matter between them.
• “It is fair use”: under US law, fair use is decided case by case on the four factors of 17 U.S.C. § 107, and the reply addresses the actual facts of the use rather than the label.
• “The photograph is old” or “it is not registered”: age alone does not end protection, and under article 5(2) of the Berne Convention the enjoyment and exercise of rights are not subject to any formality; under 17 U.S.C. § 411(a), registration is a condition for suing on a United States work, and foreign works are exempt.
• “Send me a court order” or “you are not a law firm”: the amicable stage does not require a court order, and Atlantic does not claim to be a law firm; it acts under a verified mandate, and if legal action becomes necessary the file may be handed to qualified counsel.

References17 U.S.C. §§ 107, 411(a) · Berne Convention

When an objection raises a point that genuinely changes the assessment, such as a licence that checks out, the matter is closed. When it does not, the reply explains why and restates the next step and its date.

Section 05

Complaints to the actual host

When the operator does not respond during the series, Atlantic may file a complaint with the provider that hosts the content. The host is identified by technical verification, not simply from the domain registrar or the content delivery network placed in front of the site. A complaint sent to a registrar or a CDN often produces nothing more than a forwarded message; a complaint sent to the provider that actually stores the content can be acted on.

For a host relying on the US safe harbour of 17 U.S.C. § 512(c), the complaint contains the elements listed in § 512(c)(3):

References17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3)

• identification of the copyrighted work;
• identification of the material at issue and information reasonably sufficient to locate it, namely the page URL and the image URL;
• contact information for the complaining party;
• a statement of good-faith belief that the use is not authorised by the owner, its agent or the law;
• a statement that the information is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that the signatory is authorised to act for the owner;
• a physical or electronic signature.

For a host in the European Union, the complaint follows article 16 of the Digital Services Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065): it explains the reasons, gives the exact location of the content and supplies what a diligent provider needs to identify the illegality. Under article 6, a host that has actual knowledge and does not act expeditiously may lose its liability exemption, which is why the notice is written to be complete on first reading. Each complaint is signed and accompanied by the evidence report. On request, a formal DMCA notice bearing a handwritten signature is issued.

ReferencesDSA (Reg. 2022/2065)

The host is not a party to the dispute. It decides under its own policies, and Atlantic does not ask it to rule on the case. Removal by a host concerns future display only: it does not settle the use already made, and the matter with the operator remains open. If the operator files a counter-notice under § 512(g), the host may restore the material after 10 to 14 business days unless the claimant files an action. Section 512(f) applies to knowing material misrepresentations by either side, which is one more reason every statement in a notice is limited to what the evidence shows.

References17 U.S.C. § 512(g)

Section 06

Search engines and advertising networks

Where it serves the matter, Atlantic may also send removal requests to search engines for the URLs where the image appears. Such a request concerns the listing in that search engine, not the page itself. It is useful mainly when an image keeps circulating through search results or image search after the operator has been contacted.

When the page carrying the image is monetised through advertising, Atlantic may notify the advertising network concerned. Networks generally have their own rules on the content their publishers display, and they apply those rules independently. The notification describes the occurrence and gives the Case File reference; it says nothing about the operator beyond what the evidence shows.

These notices complement the correspondence with the operator; they do not replace it. They are used selectively, and each one is logged in the Case File so that it can be withdrawn later.

Section 07

Withdrawal, closure and referral to counsel

A Case File is closed only when a valid licence or other authorisation is shown or, failing that, when an amicable settlement is reached and recorded. A demonstrated identification error is corrected, not settled. Removal of the image or a host’s decision does not close it, because neither addresses the use already made. When a licence is shown, the matter is closed without any claim. When a settlement is reached, its terms are recorded in the Case File.

Once a matter is resolved, Atlantic withdraws the notices it sent to hosts, search engines and advertising networks. The operator may also forward Atlantic’s closing message to its host, so that the matter is treated as resolved there as well.

When the operator remains silent through the series and the complaint stage, a last-resort letter informs it that the file is about to be transmitted to counsel. If the matter is still unresolved, the file may be handed to qualified counsel in the relevant jurisdiction, as described on the legal handoff page. That decision is taken by a person on the documented file, and the rights holder is informed first. Lawyers acting for the other side can use the platform’s request centre, the channel reserved for counsel, where documents are exchanged between professionals.

Section 08

Confidentiality and restraint

Enforcement support is conducted privately. Atlantic does not publish anything about recipients, does not name them on its website or elsewhere, and does not contact a recipient’s clients. Notifications to hosts, search engines and networks are limited to what those intermediaries need in order to act on the specific content.

Settlement discussions are kept confidential. What is said in an attempt to resolve a matter is filed in the Case File as a record, not used to put pressure on anyone. This restraint is part of what makes the file credible: a recipient is more likely to engage with correspondence that is factual and discreet, and a host or a court is more likely to take a file seriously when it shows measured conduct at every step.

Section 09

Starting with Atlantic

Submit the image through the platform with the URLs where you found it and any licence or source information you hold. Atlantic verifies your authority to act, reviews the occurrence and its licence context, and tells you which action, if any, it recommends before anything is sent.