Appeals, Disputes & Notices Policy

All requests are filed with the Rights & Takedown Desk by e-mail to dmca@swlef.com or by registered post to Rue du Rhône 100, 1204 Geneva, Switzerland. Registered rights holders may also open and track cases from the Claims & Follow-up Desk in their dashboard. Every e-mail receives an automatic acknowledgment addressed to the sender and to every party copied on it, containing a case reference of the form SWLEF-DMCA-YYYYMMDD-XXXXXX, which must be quoted in all follow-ups. Urgent live infringements should carry “URGENT” in the subject line.

Incomplete notices cannot be actioned and are returned with a list of what is missing. In line with 17 U.S.C. §512(c)(3) (DMCA), Art. 16 of the EU Digital Services Act and equivalent regimes, a notice must contain:

1. The work. Title, type, year and the SWLEF registry ID or certificate number where one exists.
2. The material or record complained of. Exact URLs (one per line); for registry records the registry ID; for external material the platform, channel or account and, where possible, screenshots or timestamps.
3. The problem. What is wrong and what you ask SWLEF to do (correct, reclassify, mark disputed, withdraw, document).
4. Your authority. Who you are, the rights holder you represent and the basis of your authority (title, power of attorney, agency agreement).
5. Contact details. Full legal name, company, postal address, telephone and e-mail.
6. Good-faith statement. “I have a good-faith belief that the use or statement complained of is not authorised by the rights holder, its agent or the law.”
7. Accuracy statement. “The information in this notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, I am authorised to act on behalf of the owner of the right concerned.”
8. Signature. Physical or electronic signature; a typed full name is accepted.
9. Supporting documents. Evidence of your rights of the classes described in the Evidence Review Methodology. Anonymous reports are reviewed but carry little weight without evidence.

Timelines run in business days, Monday to Friday, Geneva time, excluding Geneva public holidays. Complex matters involving many works or parties may take longer; the parties are informed of the expected date.

• Status restored — the notice was not substantiated; the Disputed flag is removed and recorded as resolved.
• Status corrected — scope, dates, confidence or metadata are corrected.
• Record reclassified — for example from evidence-based to public metadata reference where the evidence no longer supports verification.
• Record made private — at the registrant’s request or where public display is inappropriate during a dispute.
• Record expired or withdrawn — the authorisation window has lapsed or the record cannot stand; an audit stub remains.
• Record kept Disputed — two plausible chains of title exist; SWLEF does not choose between them and waits for the parties or a competent authority.
• Artwork or text removed — on a substantiated rights request concerning images or descriptions.
• Notice rejected — incomplete, unsubstantiated or abusive; reasons given.

A party whose record, artwork or statement was affected by a notice may file a counter-notice with the subject line “Counter-notice”, containing the case reference, identification of the material, a statement under penalty of perjury that the party has a good-faith belief the material was affected as a result of mistake or misidentification, its contact details, consent to the jurisdiction of the courts of Geneva (or of its own domicile for consumers) and its signature. SWLEF forwards the counter-notice to the original notifier. Unless the notifier informs SWLEF within 10 business days that it has commenced legal proceedings, SWLEF may restore the prior state.

A registrant may appeal a status decision — rejection, More information required, limited confidence, reclassification, withdrawal, suspension — once per material change in evidence, within 30 days of the decision, by writing to dmca@swlef.com with the subject “Appeal”, the registry ID, the decision contested, the grounds and any new documents. The appeal is examined by a reviewer not involved in the original decision and decided within 10 business days. A second appeal on the same evidence is not admitted; new evidence re-opens the review under the methodology instead. Permanent blocks for forgery or fraud are not appealable.

Notices made in bad faith — to harass, to extort, to suppress lawful content, or containing knowingly false statements — are rejected, logged with the sender’s details, may be disclosed to the affected party and to platforms or authorities, and lead to a permanent block of the sender. Senders are reminded that false statements in notices may expose them to liability under 17 U.S.C. §512(f), under Art. 23 of the EU Digital Services Act, and under unfair-competition and criminal law.

SWLEF decisions concern registry status only. They do not adjudicate ownership, validity of contracts or infringement, do not bind any court, authority or platform, and do not prevent any party from pursuing other remedies at any time. SWLEF complies with binding court orders and lawful requests from competent authorities and records them in the audit trail.